Just Friends?
by PunkOtaku
Summary: Okay, I suck at sums. Athrun and Kira are best friends, but they have secret (and undiscovered) feelings for each other.Eventual yaoi lemon(AxK)AU. OOC. Athrun's POV. R for language.
1. My Latest Problem

"Hey, I thought I'd find you up here," a familiar voice calls. The boy to whom it belongs is my best, and only, friend, has been for as long as I can remember. Kira Yamato. He closes the door and comes over to stand beside me, leaning against the wall to look out at the fields and roads beyond the school gates.

"Lacus-san didn't follow you, did she?" I ask, referring to my cousin.

"No, she was arguing with Cagalli-onee when I left the caf," he replies. I sigh heavily and close my eyes, the warm breeze tossing my hair.

"It's funny how different they are," I say. Cagalli, Kira's slightly older (by a few minutes) twin sister, is my girlfriend, and wears the boys uniform on days when she can get away with it. On the other hand, my cousin Lacus, whose boyfriend is Kira, is very feminine and has a wardrobe consisting entirely of dresses, nothing else.

"Birdee!" a mechanical voice sings from above us. A green and yellow robotic bird swoops down and lands on my shoulder. I stroke its head and it croons happily in response, then hops over onto Kira's head.

"I can't believe that thing still follows you everywhere," I say.

"Of course, because you gave it to me," he smiles genuinely at me, Birdee chirping in agreement.

"We'd better get back to class," I say, stretching my arms above my head with a yawn.

"I told you to stop staying on IM so late! You have to sign off right after Loveline is over!" he says scoldingly as we descend the stairs.

"You were on just as late," I retort, shouldering my heavy backpack.

"Only because you wouldn't stop bugging me!" he says, sounding irritated but smiling the whole time. I return the grin and we run down the hall, a silent declaration of a race, as the school clock strikes one.

Off to the horrible subjects of chemistry and French before baseball practice! Feh, my teachers for both of those classes hate me. My chem teacher only dislikes me because I always blow something up and make a mess. I could be home, building more little robot pets, but my parents make me come to school. If one of us had to be the delinquent, it'd probably be me. Kira's on good terms with most of the faculty and he's smart and cooperative. But I'm constantly bored because I know everything they're lecturing us on so I get yelled at for slacking off. Plus, my is a shade of blue that looks purple in bright sunlight.

All the girls swoon over the two of us. Actually, it's more than swooning, they kind of . . . Attack us. Yeah, I walked into the caf today to buy my lunch, and six crazy prep chicks starting groping me, purring about me screwing them. Yeah right. I'd rather have sex with Kira than one of those bitches . . . Not that I'm gay or anything! I like girls a lot, just not the ones that go to my school. Not enough to get it on with any of them. Except Cagalli. Kira would kill me if he knew. Good times, good times.

The two of us skid into the classroom just before the teacher slams the door in our faces.

"Late again, Mr. Zala, Mr. Yamato? One more tardy and you're both going to detention!" Mrs. Wood snarls as we go to our lab table.

We exchange glances, smirking, as we sit down and I yank my notebook out of the hellish pit inside my backpack. He does the same, turning to a blank page and scrawling a smiley face on it and writing, "heh, we're in trouble now." I glance up at the teacher before writing, "'bout time they took notice." He looks at me briefly before replying: "Do you wanna go to detention?" I push up the lead in my mechanical pencil and write, "it'd be fun, don't you think:)" he sighs, closing the book as Mrs. Wood comes toward our table with a sheet of paper. Another boring experiment. I roll my eyes at the directions on the paper and raise my hand.

"Yes, Athrun?" Mrs. Wood says, knowing what's coming to her.

"We've done this already," I say with a threatening glare, "teach me something I don't know."

All of my classmates give me dirty looks as Mrs. Wood goes up to her desk and removes a book, saying she'll be back with something more difficult. When the door closes everyone starts shouting at me, saying things like "just because you're smart doesn't mean everyone is!" and, "just go to college already!" but I'm used to all their shit. I ignore it and turn to Kira, who's busy sketching Birdee from where it sits on a branch of the cherry blossom tree outside the open window.

See, Kira may be smart and all, but he likes art more than academics. He wants to go to art school, but his parents probably won't be able to afford it, so in order to get a scholarship, he has to get all A's in school, not that he has to try very hard. He's the sentimental type, too kind for his own good, and cries more often than he should, but he's a loyal friend and easy to be around. I guess that's why I've stuck with him for so long. Not that anyone else wants to be my friend. My family is on the better end of the financial scale, while Kira's is average. Why aren't I popular, you ask? Long, but interesting, story. Since this experiment is still too easy for me, I'll explain.

Ever since I was a little kid, I was too smart. My teachers all said I was brilliant and I'd make a wonderful doctor or lawyer someday. I did the typical "smile and nod" clueless response that all children use when they don't understand something an adult says. In third grade, I earned my respect when I started to beat the crap out of anyone who picked on Kira. We went to a private middle school after that, and my reputation followed me. I never tried to change it though. I got the best grades in the whole school, and still protected Kira from all the critical bastards and bitches. Meanwhile, he got the second or third best grades, and went on drawing all over every notebook in his, (or my), possession. I kept all my notebooks from grades 6-8, only because they're full of his amazing artwork, more artwork than schoolwork in them, actually.

That brings us here, to our little high-class college prep school that all the smart, talented, pretty teenagers go to. We strut around in our crisp, clean, and neat uniforms, bragging about our parents' money and pretending everything is alright when it's really not. When we were freshmen, some posses tried to talk me into ditching Kira and becoming "cool," but I refused without a second thought. The idea of leaving him alone in this place was too cruel. That's why I hate everyone here: they're all just faking how they feel, hiding under a mask of make-up and flawless smiles. They pick on the kids who got into this school on brains rather than money because they're insecure about themselves and need to make others miserable so they feel better about themselves and all their issues. I guess I could write it out as an equation.

ME (Athrun Zala) - high class

HIM (Kira Yamato) - low class

ME + HIM + PREP - SCHOOL BAD TIMES

hc + lc + HIGH class - ridicule ÷ 2

hc + lc ÷ Hc - r ÷ 2

So, basically, he gets made fun of for being of lower class than the rest of us kids who were born with silver spoons in our mouths. Anyone stupid enough to keep prodding after I've asked them, in choice words, to cut it out, will be forced to stop whether they like it or not. I may be a rich kid, but I know how to fight, to my parent's disgust.

That took longer than I thought; I thought about this during the rest of chem and all through French, only just finishing now as Kira and I walk out into the outfield with our gloves. We're more than a little early, so we decide to play catch until the coach and the rest of the team arrives.

"This is our last easy year, Kira," I call to him as I toss him the ball. There's the satisfying sound of hard leather meeting worn leather as he catches it.

"I know. We have to get ready for college next year," he sighs, throwing it back.

"Next year will also be . . ." I begin, then I realize it sounds too sappy, "never mind!" I yell as the ball sails into his glove again.

"What? Tell me," he says demandingly.

"You'll laugh!" I say, a light flush stealing across my face.

"No, I won't. Just say it, or I'm not giving it back!"he says, waggling the ball at me.

"It'll be our last year together, Kira," I say quietly, waiting for him to start cracking up. But, surprisingly, he doesn't. He just stands there, staring at the vibrant green grass, his face expressionless. He looks up, his eyes glinting in the afternoon sun, slight tears at the corners of them, and nods sadly. I walk toward him and put my hand on his shoulder and he looks up, our eyes meeting.

"Don't worry about it yet, we have a year," I say encouragingly.

"But they pass so quickly," he sighs, sitting down on the ground. I sit beside him and take off my glove, waiting to hear what he has to say. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and takes a deep breath.

"It's gonna be hard for me because I've never been to any school without you being there with me. It'll be so weird, not having you in my classes, or having lunch on the roof with you. I dunno, you can call me a pussy if you want, but I don't know if I can do it." I smile at him reassuringly and shake my head in disagreement.

"You're not a pussy, never say that. And I'm gonna be sad, too, y'know. It's not like you're just there. You're my best friend, even though I can't see why you hang around me," I say wistfully, untucking my T-shirt from my baseball pants.

"Because you wanted me to, and I like you," he replies, smiling.

"Here already?" a voice calls. We turn to see our friend (oh yes, another! See, I lied), Nicol, standing inside the gate to the field.

"You've been in the music room cutting class again, huh?" I snicker as he joins us in the grass.

"I'm not as smart as you guys, so I have to do something with what talent I have," he says.

"Don't be so self-deprecating, man. You get good grades," I say.

"I don't really care, though. I'm going to be a pianist and that's that," he smiles widely at us like he always does when he talks about music.

He loves his piano. He spends hours writing and playing his own songs, and, when we're lucky, he plays for us on the grand piano that he bought himself. Sure, his parents could afford to buy him three or four, but he insisted on paying for it with is own money, no matter how long it took. I'm musically inept, playing and equipment-wise, but I can at least judge that it cost a bit more than his parents thought he would be willing to earn. But when you love something that much, you go to any length possible for it. Speaking of love . . .

"Athrun, you bastard! You have to stop leaving during lunch! People are gonna start calling you an introvert - among other things - if you spend every day up there on the roof with my brother!" Cagalli yells from the other side of the chain link. Yes, this loud, rude chick is my girlfriend. She's standing there in her favorite camo capris, a tank top, Chuck T's, and my team baseball cap.

"I'm gonna need that back," I say as I walk off the field to lean against the fence beside her.

"Not 'til the game. I'm keeping it for now," she says stubbornly, shoving her hands in her pockets, "plus, you have my necklace." She shoves her hand down my shirt and pulls out the piece of jewelry that hangs around my neck. The creamy pink stone shines in the light and I quickly tuck it back in my shirt, not wanting anyone to see it.

"It's kinda sexy that it rubs against your bare chest all day," she whispers, grinning.

"Oh yeah? Sexy, huh?" I say thoughtfully.

"Stop playing innocent!" she yells.

"Who's innocent? Definitely not you or me," I laugh.

"Of course not, perv! The only thing you like better than touching yourself is touching me," she hisses. I simply smirk, snatching the hat off her head, distracting her by giving her breast a pinch before running back onto the field, laughing.

"YOU HORNY PERVERT!" she screams, shaking her fist at me. I stick out my tongue as I tie back my hair in a ponytail and look from Kira to Nicol.

"Never do that in front of me again," Kira says, his face in his hands, "it grosses me out to think of you doing that with my sister," he shudders and puts his glove on, standing up with me. Nicol gets to his feet as well and the rest of the team joins on th grass, followed by our coach.

"You know what to do, boys," Coach La Flaga says, running a hand through his blonde hair.

Some of the girls gathered on the bleachers swoon at our good-looking coach, who is the object of many school girl crushes. I roll my eyes and wink at Cagalli before starting the drills and she winks back, sitting down with Lacus and her friends. I'm used to having no less than twenty squealing girls watch me stretch, so their yelling doesn't bother me. At least I'm ready for the big leagues, when the whole park can see you bending over in these stupid tight pants. But I like playing too much to complain.

"Jeez, he was in a bad mood today," I sigh as I scrub my hair.

"I know. I heard his fiancee was cheating on him, so they broke up, but he doesn't have to take it out on us," Kira says from his shower stall.

We're in the boys' locker room, the only ones left, actually. Everyone else rushed in before us to shower, so we were stuck sitting around, listening to our Walkmans, until the other guys were done. Not that there's any hot water left . . . So I'm shivering while I wash off all the dirt, and Kira told me he was cold.

"This is what we get, huh?" I ask as I turn off the water and stepping out, wrapping a towel around my waist.

"We don't deserve it, though. At least you don't. You're the best player on the team," he answers. I quickly pull on my boxers and shorts, averting my gaze while he gets dressed.

"You're so shy, Athrun," he says, shaking the water out of his unruly mop of brown hair.

"Is that the same as introvert? That's what Cagalli called me," I ask, packing up my stuff before we leave the locker room and head down the empty halls.

"No, you're not an introvert. You just . . . Don't open up to everyone," he says.

"Feh, sure. Are you and Lacus going on a date tonight?" I ask, not really wanting to talk about my antisocial tendencies.

"No, she's having a sleep over or something," he says with a sigh.

"Chicks are weird that way," I add, "since Cagalli's going, that's the only reason I'm not going anywhere."

"Hey, since my sister won't be home, you wanna spend the night at my house?" he asks brightly as we go across the parking lot.

"Sure, should we go there now?" I ask, spinning my car keys around my finger.

"Could we go over to the mall first? Something came in for me," he says, blushing slightly. Art supplies, no doubt.

"Now who's shy, huh?" I laugh as we put our bags into the trunk of my car.

"I swear, they couldn't have made this thing any smaller," I growl as I try to close it. Stupid Beamer! No storage space! Of course, Z3's aren't exactly meant for dragging around baseball equipment.

Before driving off, I put down the top so my hair will dry in the wind. Kira told me once I should just blow dry it, but I refused, saying that it'd make me too feminine. Then again, it would balance me out with Cagalli, who's a brown belt in karate and wears the boys' uniform. We actually have a running bet, Kira and I, that whoever gets on TV at the Red Sox games more times doesn't have to wear the girls' uniform to school for a whole day. The bet started back in April and has run all summer, and will until October. That is, if we make it to the play-offs.

The best August the team's had in a while is coming to a close, and we're tied at three. If we're still tied by the end of the season, then we _both _have to wear it. Dammit, I have to win! Those chicks will go crazier than ever if I'm cross-dressing. Probably take pictures and put them in the year book. All I need is to be remembered as a cross-dresser. It could be worse, right? I could be talked about for years for being a fag. Now _that_, my friends, would suck.

That evening we're lounging around Kira's bedroom, waiting for the Red Sox game to start and talking about how many games we have left to go to.

"Alright, so Tuesday, Friday, then we're away. After that, the 16th, the 22nd, and the 26th. That's it," he says, looking over the calender of games he got out of the Boston Globe when the season began. The whole thing is littered with writing, scores for most of the games, W's and L's and arrows, things in parentheses. In a nutshell, it's a mess. He takes the fine point black Sharpie from behind his ear and taps it against his lips before writing "2004 Record" at the bottom.

"We'll have to wait a while for that. Hopefully, it'll include more than the regular season, huh?" I say with a smile.

"Don't go jumping to conclusions, Athrun! Remember my superstitions!" he says, giving me a scolding glance before looking back to the TV.

If you haven't gotten the impression already, we live for this team. What wall space in his room that isn't covered by his art and a few other posters is occupied by pictures of us at Fenway, two pennants, the menu from the right field roof seats, and an autographed, (and framed), picture of Johnny Damon. Kira even plays center field, which makes it even more valuable to him. I may play second, but I'd _kill_ for Curt Schilling's autograph. I could die happy. With that, and a shiny World Series trophy with our name inscribed on the plaque. That would be the best day of my life.

"Athrun! Wake up! Baseball!" Kira yells, snapping me out of my day dream. "You want a snack? We have sports bars," he asks as I join him on the floor.

"How much are they tonight?" I ask, grinning. We have this joke about the high prices of concessions at the park. A bottle of water is 3.00, a Coke is 3.75 for a small cup, and sports bars are 3.50. But we pretend that they're outrageously expensive.

"There's a special tonight - two for the price of one, and that price is . . . Twenty bucks," he gets up and I say, "they're cheap tonight." He laughs as he goes downstairs to get them and I pull my worn-out hat on my head, smiling, as I grab a few floor pillows to sit on. He comes back into the room, flopping down next to me on the cushions and hands me the ice cream bar, putting on his hat as well.

"We're such losers," I say with a smile.

"I know, but I like it that way, don't you?" he asks, leaning against my shoulder.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," I respond, tossing the wrapper into the trash.

We're both done eating and the first pitch hasn't even been thrown yet, and I know the game won't be long. We're playing the sorry Detroit Tigers after all. Next series is Anaheim, our tough rivals for the Wild Card's top spot, so we shouldn't be cocky about anything. Aw, fuck it, I'm cocky as hell. I mouth off to every Yankee fan I've ever met and love to brag when we win. But I struggle through it when we're in a slump and never lose hope. Fair-weather fan? What's that? Not me, that's for sure. When we lost ALCS game 7 last year, I almost expected it. After so many years of failure, I thought, why should 2003 be any different? Kira sobbed and went Goth for a whole three months after, straight into the New Year, while I mourned inwardly. See? I am such an introvert. But just like I'm a loser, I wouldn't want to be anything else.

I hop up off the floor, turning off the TV and kicking my shorts aside, humming "Dirty Water." We won, of course, by a score of 5-3, and now it's time for not Loveline, since it's Friday. On any other night, besides Saturday, I'd be eagerly waiting for the show to start at 10 P.M.. Kira's sitting on his bed, clicking away on his laptop; probably ordering more art supplies. Ink, markers, paper, brushes, something along those lines. Just in case I'm wrong, I ask, "what're you up to?"

"Nothing, I'm just editing some pics I scanned in a few days ago," he replies, a touch of uneasiness in his voice. Ignoring it, I sit down beside him and watch as he shuts down his laptop, putting it on his desk and exchanging it for his Walkman.

"Grab your headphones, we can both listen through mine," he says, gesturing towards my backpack.

"CD or radio?" I ask as I yank my headphones out, untying the knots in the cord.

"Whatever you want, I don't really care," he answers, shrugging. I throw my headphones on the bed and inspect his CD rack, trying to find something I don't have. We listen to pretty much the same stuff, but I probably have a larger collection, thanks to my rich parents.

"If something's missing, onee-chan took them," he says.

"Alright. Oh! This one! Lacus broke my copy!" I exclaim, tossing The Killers' _Hot Fuss _to him. He catches it without looking and opens his Walkman, quickly switching _Meteora_ for the red disk.

"When did Lacus-chan break it?" he asks as I plug in my cord and flop down next to him.

"When she was borrowing it last week," I reply, stabbing the play button. You have to stab it to make it work his Walkman is so old, just as old as mine. We both boycott buying iPods because they were too trendy for us. Plus, he'd have to save his money for a while to buy one, but there aren't any cool colors anyway.

This was one of my favorite CDs, until my stupid preppy cousin decided to crush it under her sandals. She returned the broken disk the other day with an insincere, "sorry." I was so pissed. I started to yell at her across the quad, but she ignored me, even though I swore at her. I don't know how Kira can stand dating her. Then again, I know he'd say the same about me going out with his sister. Now that I think about it, the situation is pretty odd.

Let's just say that Cagalli and I get married after we go to college, okay? If that happens, Kira will be . . . My brother-in-law. How bizarre is that? Shuddering at the thought, I turn up the volume, trying to get the idea out of my head. Being related to him . . . I glance at him cautiously, almost expecting him to comment on the notion that ran through my mind, but he doesn't, of course. I'm just psychotic sometimes. Seriously, though, what if that happens? It'll ruin our friendship. Should a lover be put before friends? Really, for me, the only thing that defines the difference is that I don't have sex with my friends or go on dates with them. They're equally close to me as Cagalli is. Eh, this topic is making me feel gay, so forget I mentioned it.

Suddenly, his head rests on my shoulder and I'm about to make a joke about him being into me when I realize he fell asleep. Blinking, I wonder why he's so tired. That's right: he was up late last night talking to me and up early for school. Damn, now I feel guilty 'cause he's so exhausted, but that extra-tough practice didn't help much either. Good thing it's the weekend and we can sleep in tomorrow. Speaking of sleeping . . . I look around his room, wondering where I should sleep. There isn't anywhere else to lie down besides the bed, so I guess I'm on the floor. I turn off his Walkman and place it on the night stand before carefully standing and easing him down onto the mattress. He stirs slightly, murmuring almost inaudiably, then settles again. I'm about to sit down on the floor when he grabs my wrist, pulling me back over to him.

"Nani?" I ask.

"Ath . . . run," he mutters. His eyes slowly open and he looks up at me, "sorry, I didn't mean to doze off like that. I'm sure you're not tired," he says.

"It's alright, really. I was up late with you last night, so I should go to bed, too," I reply.

"Were you going to sleep on the floor?" he laughs.

"There's no where else . . ." I say.

"See, you are shy. You can sleep with me." We both blush furiously after he says this, our perverted minds quickly making the translation.

"I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaims, holding up his hands defensively.

"I know, don't worry about it. Now lets get some rest," I say with a smile. He nods, yawning, and gets underneath the covers as I turn off the light and lie down beside him, yanking the sheet away from him.

"How weird are we, huh?" I laugh quietly.

"Not really. I've heard of chicks who sleep together and don't do anything," he whispers.

"We're not chicks. They don't have the sex drive that we do." Yet another thing I learned from Loveline when I was thirteen. "We always used to do this when we were kids, remember?" I add.

"Yeah, mostly at your house since we didn't want my sister bugging us," he replies. I smile as I think of when we were young and innocent, had no idea that boys weren't supposed to sleep in the same bed. I didn't know then and I don't care now. Kira and I are best friends and that's it...

Or not. Judging by our position we're in when I wake up, you'd think we were . . . Together. His back is to my chest, my arms tight around his waist and my lips brushing against his neck. Dude, what was my subconscious mind _thinking?_ He wriggles in my grasp, making helpless noises, before muttering my name. Crap, he's gonna get me for this.

"What's going on?" he asks groggily.

"I-I didn't, I mean, I don't, I'm not–" I let go of him and sit up, looking away from his puzzled stare.

"Damn, this is all because of last night. I'm sorry, it's because I was thinking about me getting married to Cagalli and the two of us being related. Then there was the thing about me sleeping with you and . . ." I sigh heavily, burying my face in my hands.

"Wait, go slower, marrying Cagalli . . . ?" he asks.

"I was thinking about how we date each others relatives and how I'd be your brother-in-law if I marry Cagalli. I must be high or something, jeez!"

"Don't beat yourself up over it. You didn't do anything besides hold me, right?" I nod, still embarrassed like hell. 'Least I didn't rape him.

"Plus, I felt . . . Safe like that," he says, his cheeks pink.

For some reason, the sight of him having just woken up, his hair disheveled, a pale flush across his, makes my heart beat a little faster. Something in the back of my mind tells me I think he looks cute, but the right-thinking part knocks the perv unconscious. How could I think that? Am I gonna have to beat myself over the head with his laptop to get my mind straight? I _must_ have smoked something yesterday and forgotten about it. If I was sober, I wouldn't be getting these ideas . . . Right? Then my eyes settle on his neck, where my lips were. Oh my God. There's no way. Holy shit . . . What was I thinking, goddammit!

There on his slim neck, tattooed on his pale skin, is a hickey, complete with teeth marks. "Fuck . . ." I hiss, tossing my head back. I must be dreaming. I did _not_ do this.

"What? Are you okay?" he asks.

"Stop being so concerned about me and go look at your neck!" I growl. Obviously bewildered, he crawls to the end of the bed and hops off, and goes into the bathroom that attaches his room to Cagalli's. I busy myself by dumping the contents of my backpack on the floor then shoving them all back in when he reenters the room.

My face burns when our eyes meet, his hand at the mark, and we just stare at each other for long moments. I quickly stand up, avoiding his gaze, and mutter that I'm going to take a shower. I don't think I could spend another minute in that awkwardness. I let out a sigh as I step under the streaming water, collapsing against the tiled wall. Why don't I just marry him already? What the hell was I dreaming about to make me do something so strange?

I stare up at the ceiling, watching the steam billow upwards and decide to get over it, pretend it never happened. I'll just pay Lacus to say that she gave it to him. Then again, she's popular, and she'll tell everyone that we slept in the same bed, defeating the purpose completely. I wash briefly, scrubbing my hair impatiently, then rinse and turn off the water. I purposely hit my head against the tile and pull the curtain aside, wrapping a towel around my waist.

Y'know what else? He'll make fun of me for thinking about him in the shower. I roll my eyes tiredly and yank a brush through my wet hair, then realize I don't have anything to wear. Once again, my own absent-mindedness works against me. This whole thing is making me frantic! I fling the bathroom door open and he's sitting cross-legged on his bed, wearing only his boxers, his purple eyes fixed intently on the screen of his laptop.

"You can use the shower now," I say, opening his closet and picking out some black cargo shorts with red stitching, (left over from his Goth phase), and a black baseball T-shirt with red sleeves.

I wait for the door to close before letting the towel slide off my waist and go over to his dresser for a pair of boxers, then hurriedly dress. I feel uneasy being naked in his room. I sit down on the bed with his open laptop beside me, everything silent except for the sound of rushing water. Something on the screen catches my eye before I can close the computer: an all-blue folder called simply "A."

Suspicious, I double click it and it opens to four pictures files, labeled "A/1," "A/2," and so on, all in green. Might as well start at the beginning, right? Clickity-click. Suddenly a lightly-colored picture fills the screen, an all-too familiar flash of turquoise against peachy skin. My eyes widen at the image displayed: it's . . . Me. It's amazing how good it is. He gave it a hint of manga-style drawing to it, but other than that, it looks exactly like me. This one is just my head and shoulders, but I'm sure the next is bound to be different.

Clickity-click, A/2. Me again, but this time, it's my whole body. I'm wearing my Schilling jersey over a T-shirt with shorts. It's how I posed in that one picture when we went to Fenway . . . the whole background is of a lush green shade, but I notice abstract splotches behind me to represent parts of the park behind me.

On to number three then, huh? My face colors slightly at this one: my hair is tousled, a sexy smile on my lips, a suggestive twinkle in my eyes, and I'm naked from the waist up. Even then, the fly of my jeans is undone, but the picture stops just below that. I don't even wanna know what photo he based this on.

Best for last, right? Smiling bitterly, I open the final one. The minute I see it the pale pink shade on my cheeks changes to red. Blood probably would've spurted from my nose If I had left it open longer than a few seconds. Glad I'm not the only perv around here. Kira kicks the door open and goes over to the closet. I try not to stare at his bare skin, the droplets running down his faintly tanned body. It's not like I haven't seen him shirtless before, but the situation makes me feel . . . Off, I guess.

Aw, hell, it makes me feel things I've never imagined I would, think things that never would have crossed my mind about him before now. I try to look away as the towel slips from his hips, but I can't help but steal a glance. I quickly whip my head the other way after laying my eyes on the perfect curves of his ass and exposed thighs. Pervpervpervpervpervpervpervpervpervperv . . . I stab myself in the forehead with my finger each time the word echoes in my skull.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kira asks.

I carefully look over at him only to blush again; the zipper of his shorts is down and his short-sleeved button down is undone. In my mind, it looks like he's getting dressed after we spent the night in bed together. Calming myself, I stand up and go over to him, gazing into his deep liquid eyes.

"I saw the pictures," I say quietly. His face slowly colors as he realizes which ones I'm talking about.

"I-I . . . they're just practice, I mean, I–" I put my finger to his lips, a faint voice telling me I want it to be something else. Feh! I don't wanna kiss him! I take my hand away, shoving them both in my pockets and stare at the floor.

"All of them?" he asks softly. I give a small nod in response.

"Athrun, I never meant for you to see that last one. It was just . . . damn, I don't know," he sighs.

"You must know, because you drew it," I retort. He looks down, shame and hurt expressed on his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go through your stuff like that, I was just curious," I say gently.

"No, it's okay. It's probably better that you saw. I was going to tell you soon anyway."

"Tell me . . . What?" He's being really vague.

"That I . . ." he fidgets uneasily and I wait for those words to pass through his lips. Words I've only heard from girls with long feathery hair and heavy breasts, sometimes the truth, more often lies. I watch as he tosses the three syllables around in his mouth, but he doesn't say it.

"I'm breaking it off with Lacus," he mutters.

"But how can you be so sure of–" "of what! What do you think I'm gonna say?"he yells.

"I've been friends with you for twelve years, I can tell by your eyes," I whisper. There's a sudden knock on the door and it opens a crack, his mom peeking inside.

"I was just coming to see if you two were hungry," she says, smiling.

"Yeah, we are. Five minutes?" Kira says casually, "alright, dear."

Our eyes are immediately drawn together again, as if by magnets, the emotions between us are that strong. Wide pools of greyed purple quiver as he stares fearfully at me.

"Athrun, I've somehow become . . . Attracted to you," he whispers. God, I never thought those words could sound so sweet and strange at once. Not only is he adorable as he looks up at me, his shaggy hair falling in his eyes, but his bare chest, still glistening with water, is tempting me.

"I think . . . I feel the same way about you. Maybe that's why I gave you this," he flinches slightly as I stroke the mark on his neck, his breath quickening.

"This is more than attraction, isn't it?" he asks.

"Kira . . ." I whisper, my hands cupping his face, "only if you want it to be." His expression tells me "yes," but his mouth can't admit it. "I already know because of that picture, don't I?"

I smile deviously at him, pressing my body against his, my hands resting on his slim waist now. Slowly, he wraps his arms around my neck; if we start kissing, I know I'm not gonna want to stop for anything, his full, irresistible lips parted slightly as he takes uneven breaths. I can't help it - I want to taste his mouth.

But, (curse the fucking timing!), his mothers voice calls to us again. Before we can give her the chance to walk in on us, I reluctantly let go of him, leaving his eyes lingering with a shimmer of desperation. Not that I don't feel the same. I may not have ever wanted a kiss more, but I've also never been so scared to kiss. I'm afraid that if what just happened goes on, what we had will be ruined. Our inseparable comradery, the cherished friendship. But I guess if we both want more, we should go for it.

I look over at him as we stand there in the sunny kitchen, watching as he licks the doughnut crumbs from his lips. Damn . . . The things I wanna do with that tongue of his. I mentally smack myself, reminding myself that I'm dating his sister . . . And here begins my problem: which twin do I really want?


	2. Confession

**A/N: I forgot to mention that this is my first fic so keep flames to a minimum! Please R and R! Hope you like! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own GS. 'Nuff said. **

**Chapter Two: Confession**

"Fuck!" I hiss, throwing a pillow at the wall. I've been tossing and turning for hours, unable to keep my eyes closed for more than a few minutes. I can't forget today's events. Why didn't I kiss him? Why? I press my fingers to my lips and realize I'm thinking about the wrong Yamato child. Cagalli is my_ girlfriend!_What am I _doing? _I have to get away from the idea that I . . . Like Kira. I'm weird enough already, all I need to add to my bad rep is that I'm gay, or bi. No! No switch hitting! I'm straight!

I pull at my hair angrily, scowling into the darkness outside my window. I need to calm down, I say to myself as I take a deep breath. If I do like him, I have to admit it to him, as well as myself, then we can figure out where we want to go from there. Maybe he doesn't want to go any farther? How am I supposed to know, though? All I have to do is tell him how I feel . . . Once I can decide what that feeling is. I could use some advice, preferably from a female. If I talk to a guy about this, the "fag" stamp will be on my forehead until college. Well, I can check my mother off the list. Never in a million years would I tell her or my dad. Lacus has a big mouth, and Cagalli is my girlfrined, and Kira's sister. Man, I wish I had more friends. This is one of the many problems with being antisocial. Guess I'll just have to suffer by myself. There's no one I can tell . . . My heavy eyelids lower, my mouth gaping in a wide yawn, and I drift off to sleep at last.

_I'm standing there at the altar in a church, sunlight streaming in the stained-glass windows. I glance around nervously, recognizing the faces of my friends and family in the pews. What the hell is going on . . . ? I look down at the white tux I'm wearing, then whip my head up when the doors at the end of the aisle are opened quite loudly. Cagalli starts walking up the carpet, the train of her pale green dress following along behind her. She holds a bouquet of Easter lilies, the gold pollen falling onto the pure white petals with each movement. She comes to stand before me and smiles with her pink lips, her eyes shining. The priest begins to read the vows and I repeat, the tension and apprehension growing with each word that comes from my mouth. _

_I notice the unmistakable glisten of tears against amethyst behind me and I turn to see Kira standing there, trying to force a smile even though he's obviously crying. Cagalli glares at me, waiting for my reply. I bite my lip, looking from her angry face to Kira, who nods encouragingly, wiping his eyes. I can read exactly what those orbs of dulled purple say to me, "don't do it, you know I love you." A bolt of rebellious determination surges through my body and I step up onto the altar beside him, wrap my arm around his waist, and capture his lips in a heated kiss . . . _

I sit bolt upright in bed, breathing hard, and look around cautiously; that was one hell of a dream. The clock tells me it's just after 11 A.M., meaning Kira will be here in half an hour to pick me up. We're supposed to go to the beach with Nicol and a few of the other guys from the team, but . . . I don't know if I can control myself in his presence while he's half-dressed. Maybe the fresh air will help me clear my head. I played terribly in the game yesterday all because of that incident.

I must be obsessed: distracted, losing sleep, both symptoms of love. Not to mention I get nervous when I think about him, which is all the time, and I continuously have perverted daydreams about him. Damn hormones! Whose horrible idea were they anyway?

I get out of bed, still feeling tired, probably because even though it's eleven, I fell asleep at four. Feh, I can sleep at the beach, I say to myself as I pull on my blue camo swim trunks. I boredly tie back my hair and slip my T-shirtover my head, grabbing my sandals, my wallet, and a beach towel before going downstairs.

"Good morning, Athrun," my mom says cheerfully as I shuffle into the kitchen, "hey," I mutter. What's so good about it?

"I'm really not that hungry, mom, I think I'll just wait for Kira," I say.

"Hm?" Kira pokes his head into the kitchen and I take a step backward, surprised.

"Y-you're early," I say, telling myself to stay composed.

"Yeah, bad times at my house, so I decided to come early. Sorry I didn't call," he says, stepping into the room.

"It's alright. I just slept in. We can go," I say. He nods and the two of us go out into the bright, hot sunshine, me yawning as I get into the passenger seat of his Corvette. He saved forever to buy this car and he loves it, partially because ti's Red Sox red.

'We got some time to kill, you wanna go to lunch?"he asks as he starts the car.

"Sure, whatever," I say, trying to sound uninterested, even though having him all to myself before we go to the beach is exactly what I wanted. I smile despite myself as the houses fly past beneath the perfect cloudless sky.

Birdee, perched on Kira's shoulder, whistles happily as I hold out my hand for the robot to hop onto. It jumps over to my wrist and chirps reassuringly, as if saying, "don't worry so much about it." I grin, putting the bird down on my knee and turning on the radio, the DJ informing me that this is the new song by Jimmy Eat World; good times. I put the volume up and look over at him, "where're we eating?" I ask.

"Wherever you want, I don't care," he says with a shrug.

A slight flush steals across my face as I listen to the lyrics of the song " . . . the love we make is give and it's take . . . " He doesn't seem to notice, but then again, he's more innocent and pure than I am. I pick up on every perverted connection there is to be made in anything.

Anyway, we wind up at the sandwich shop, Robin's Café, and he follows me into the inviting air conditioning. A few people sit at the tables with their lunches, but we're the only ones standing at the counter to order.

"The usual?" the woman says to me. I nod, smiling; needless to say, I come in here a lot, despite the full-service kitchen I have in my own home. The chefs suck when it comes to making a simple sandwich.

"Kira?" I ask, "uh . . . I guess I'll have the same thing as you," he says, looking up from the menu he holds.

"Go grab some drinks, I'll pay for it," I say, pulling my wallet out of my pocket.

He's about to protest, but I push him towards the cooler and he comes back with two iced teas, one peach and the other raspberry. I hand my money to the woman, take the change, and go to sit at the high table by the window with Kira next to me. He pops the cap off his Snapple and read the underside aloud, "Real Fact #6 - A honey bee can fly at fifteen miles per hour."

"What the hell!" I exclaim.

"That's what it says," he says with a laugh, the takes a sip. I watch enviously as his tongue darts out to lick a droplet from his lips, then quickly avert my gaze so he doesn't notice. Sulking, I unconsciously start gulping the tea until the bottle is half empty.

"Wow, you're thirsty," he says as I gasp for air.

"Yeah, well, it's hot out," I say, my stomach sloshing as I spin around in the swiveling chair. Wonderful, all I need is to throw up in front of him. Sighing heavily, I fold my arms on the table and rest my chin on them, glaring out at the parking lot, watching some squirrels fight.

"Athrun?" he says. I grunt in response, still brooding about nothing in particular, "food," he says, pushing the plate towards me. I sit up straight and stare at him, but I can't bring up the topic of yesterday right now. He looks so cute and happy just being friends like this. Growling at how weak I am, I start eating, paying so little attention that if it wasn't for Kira's observation, I would've pierced my soft palette with the toothpick holding the wrap together. God, I'm so stupid, I say to myself as I finish the first half, wiping the dressing off my fingers.

"You're wicked quiet. What's wrong?" he asks.

"Hungry," I reply, chomping into the second half, "figures," he sighs.

"You snarfed yours, huh?" I say as I chew, "yeah, so? I was hungry, too," he shrugs and gets up to bring his empty plate to the counter. My eyes don't follow him, but if it weren't for self-restraint and a disgusting tomato in my sandwich, I woulda been fully staring at his ass as he bends over to pick up the coins he dropped.

He sits back down and offers me a mint chocolate brownie, smiling, "something's wrong, and if it's because of me, I'm sorry. Your favorite," he says as I take the desert from him. Why does he have to care so much? It's so fucking adorable that it's all I can do not to tackle him and snog him breathless.

I quickly finish eating and slouch out to the car, swatting Birdee away, dreading our arrival at the beach. It's not that I don't like swimming, far from it, I love the ocean, but I don't know what I'll do with him shirtless and wet . . . This idea leads to more thoughts that I'd rather not mention to protect your innocent children from my sick mind.

I smell the sea on the breeze before I can see it, but that's how it always is here on the seacoast. Most of the beaches are packed, but we find a parking spot on the side of the road near the one we're meeting the guys at. Kira grabs his stuff out of the trunk and we go up the road a little before coming to a wooden walkway that leads up the rocks.

I quickly jump down the hot stone, cursing at myself for leaving my shoes in the car, running across the equally hot sand to the water. I sigh with relief as the waves lap over my feet and I turn around just in time to see Kira take off his shirt and toss it onto the ground. Birdee lands on his shoulder, giving his ear a soft peck before flying off into the salty wind. At times, I'm jealous of that bird, touching him whenever it wants, loitering around his room when he gets out of the shower . . .

I shake my head vigorously, trying to dismiss that thought as I go back up to lay out my towel. I pull my shirt up over my head and let it fall onto the sand, snapping the elastic that holds back my hair. His purple eyes scan my body and I pretend that I don't notice that he's checking me out. I sit down beside him and he looks over at me, puzzled by the serious look on my face.

"Kira, we need to talk about what happened yesterday," I say, staring out at the glistening water.

"Now?" he whines, "yes, now. This is important," I say snappishly. I promptly apologize for my tone of voice, "it's okay," he says quietly. He tries to avoid my gaze, but I grasp his chin in my hand, forcing our eyes to meet.

"What I said . . . It's true," he whispers, taking a sharp breath as I move closer to him.

"What might that be?" I ask deviously. I want to hear those words again, as selfish as it may sound.

"That I'm attracted to you," he answers, a shade of watermelon pink rushing to his cheeks.

"Gods, you're so adorable," I sigh, running my thumb over his lips. His breath quickens as I press my body against his, my hands resting on his hips. " I think I feel more than attraction towards you, Kira," I whisper in his ear. He shudders as I touch my tongue lightly to the lobe of his ear.

"What . . . Do you feel then?" he asks.

"I think . . . That I'm not gonna tell you yet," I stand up, grinning seductively at him before wading into the ocean again. I'm about to start swimming laps when a voice calls my name. I turn to the shore, sighing as I go back for the second time.

"Hi, Athrun," Nicol says, "hey," I say, the disappointment evident in my voice. I wanted to be alone with Kira for just a little longer.

"Athrun! Was that you putting the moves on Kira just a few minutes ago?" a very tanned blond boy yells, pulling me into a headlock.

"Let go of me, Dearka, you bastard! It's none of your business!" I shout. Of course he doesn't listen. The taller boy just tightens his grip around my neck, and another voice snickers beside him. I glance over to see Yzak standing there, laughing at me.

"Shut up!" I yell, kicking him hard in the knee. I grab Dearka by the wrists and flip his whole body over my head onto the sand. Damn, I loved those karate classes. He stares up at me in disbelief and I give him my best bastardy smirk as I walk across his stomach to stand next to Kira.

He tries to hide his laughter at my thorough beating of the captain of the baseball team, but fails miserably. Dearka sits up, frowning and muttering curses to himself. Proud of my work, I finally go back into the ocean and swim my laps, six per basic stroke, (front, back, breast).

When I return to the shore, breathless, Dearka, Yzak, Nicol, and Kira are playing frisbee farther down the beach. Like I really wanna play. I collapse on my towel, stretching out on my back in the bright, warm sun. I almost doze off, but Kira runs over to me and pulls on my arm, "hey, you wanna do something?" he asks. I open one eye and sit up tiredly.

"I guess. Nothing too straining, though," I sigh, "catch? Is that okay?" he tosses me a tennis ball and I stand up, throwing it back.

"How 'bout we just take a walk instead?" I suggest. He nods cheerfully and we set out in the opposite direction of our teammates. You know what that means: A-L-O-N-E! I'm so sneaky sometimes.

He sloshes through the shallow water, kicking up tiny sparkling drops, the only sound breaking the silence between us. An idea pops into my head and I quicken my pace, and he copies me. I start to run and in a short time, we're racing each other down the beach, stealing glances every once in a while to see if the other is behind or ahead, paying no regard to the other people around us.

Suddenly he falls to the ground and I skid to a halt, dropping onto my knees next to him, "hey, are you alright?" I ask, helping him to sit up.

"Yeah, I just tripped, that's all," he says with a weak smile. He tries to get to his feet, only to let out a small yelp of pain. We both look down to see his left ankle is terribly swollen " I don't think I can walk," he says.

"You're not just doing this to trick me, are you?" I ask suspiciously.

"I'm not that desperate," he says with a small laugh, "you wanna lean on me and limp or should I carry you?" I pray for him to say the latter; ahh, my hand on his thigh, teasing at the him of his swim trunks . . . "I'll limp," he answers.

Dammit, why does he have to try and be strong? I pull him up and he sort of falls into my arms, his lips brushing against my neck. That's when I remember what's on _his _neck. The mark is still there, paler, but not by much, not as much as I want it to be. I want to stay like this, but he shifts to stand next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I hold him by the waist and ask again if he's okay with this. He nods and takes a step, limping on his swollen ankle.

He hobbles along beside me, whimpering in pain occasionally, but he bites down hard on his lip, trying to conceal it. After a while, I realize how far down the beach we are, "you really wanna keep this up?" I ask as he stops to rest, his head on my shoulder.

"It'll be weird if you carry me," he explains.

"But it hurts you, Kira, and I don't want that," I say. Before he can say anything, I carefully lift him up and he instinctively winds his arms around my neck even though he's blushing vibrantly.

"Am I too heavy for you?" he whispers.

"Even if you were, it wouldn't matter. I'm not so cruel that I'd make you walk," I respond. He smiles slightly, his eyelids lowering, and takes deep breaths; I'd talk to him to try to take his mind off the throbbing pain, but I don't know what to say, so we're both silent.

When we finally get back to our little piece of beach, I ease him down onto the sand and I kneel next to him. He sits up and stares at his ankle, as if the scornful look will heal it and the others come running over, all asking what happened.

"I tripped and hurt my ankle, that's all. Hurts like hell, but it's not serious," Kira says with a smile that looks more like a grimace. I feel really bad that this happened. What'll we do when we go to Fenway the day after tomorrow? Maybe, (hopefully), he'll be better by then.

"You wanna go home?" I ask.

"No, if you wanna stay, I'll just sit and watch," he says, shaking his head.

"It's no fun without you. We'll leave," I say. I pick up all of our belongings, Birdee settling on Kira's shoulder, and turn to Nicol, "I'm sorry we have to go so soon," I say.

"No, it's best that Kira rests for now," he says, smiling.

"Yeah, you can go play doctor for Kira," Dearka says, nudging me with his elbow.

"Perv," I hiss, "c'mon, we can tell you want him," Yzak teases.

"Fuck you," I snap, draping our shirts and towels over my arm and take him in my arms again. I smile possessively at them over his head before hopping up the rocks and going down the walkway to the gravel. Trying not to complain about how hot the asphalt is on my bare feet, I help him into the passenger seat.

"Hey, I think there's some ice left in the cooler that I could put on my ankle. Will you check?" he asks. Nodding, I open the trunk to find the cooler full of semi-cold water. "Feh," I mutter at nothing in particular as I drench my T-shirt with the water, then slam the trunk and wring the excess water out before handing it to Kira.

"Thanks a lot, Athrun, you're the best," he says, smiling sweetly as he wraps the article of clothing around his ankle.

"I know I am," I say smugly as I start the car and pul out of the parking space. When I look over at him again, he's sleeping, his lips in a cute little pout as he breathes softly.

That feeling I have for him? It's not lust, though I have a lot of that, too. I think . . .I'm in love with him. Sure, it's taken me over a decade to figure this out, but good things take time, right? That means I can't rush things between the two of us either, no matter how badly I wanna have sex with him in various deliciously kinky ways. No, if that was all I wanted, I'd be done with him already. I woulda fucked him yesterday and left his heart broken, and the reason I didn't do that is because I love him.

"Hey, you need anything?" I ask, peeking into Kira's bedroom, "no, I'm alright. And you don't have to keep checking on me," he says, glancing up from his laptop.

"What are you up to now?" I sigh, going into the room to look at the screen, "more pictures of me half-dressed, perhaps?" I laugh.

"No! Just don't talk about that, okay?" he blushes, avoiding my gaze. I sit down on the bed with him and wrap my arm around his shoulder, pulling his body close to mine.

"A-athrun!" he exclaims.

"Shh, it's not like I'm gonna do anything to you," I whisper. He relaxes and closes his laptop, setting it aside and turns to face me, wary of his ankle.

"Why are you being so sweet to me? I've seen the perverted looks you give me, so why are you being so gentle?" he asks.

"Because that's what I wanna do. I want to protect you because I didn't have to do that with Cagalli," I reply, holding him tightly.

"Are you . . .Gonna break up with her?" he asks.

"If you want me to. How about we go on a few dates before I decide?"

"D-d-date?" he whips his head up, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, dinner, a movie, another trip to the beach. Whatever you want, Kira," I say.

"That sounds fun," he smiles contently and buries his face in my neck, letting me stroke his head. I kinda like this, just holding him, but I know I'm gonna want more than this.

Cagalli and I never do stuff like this, she's too forceful for this. It's always making out, groping, and sex. Not that I don't like doing those things, but it _does _get old after a while, but that makes me sound selfish. I guess I have to ask myself if I really _love_ either of them. If I had to pick one, it'd be Kira any day. I love him more. Yes, I love him.

I tighten our embrace, resting my cheek against the top of his head. "Kira . . ." I whisper, "what?" he asks.

"I . . ." he lifts his eyes and stares into my eyes; I can't tell him. I can't bring myself to say it. I want to, but I just can't spit out the words.

"Nothing, I should get going. Wouldn't want your parents or Cagalli to find us like this, right?" I smile weakly and he nods. I reluctantly let go of him, not ever wanting to leave his warmth or his sweetness, but I have to.

We have school tomorrow, and there's a pile of homework on my desk that hasn't been touched. I stand in the doorway, our eyes locked and unmoving. The late afternoon sun streams in the windows, giving his hair and skin a golden glow. No matter how badly I wanna run back in and kiss him, I turn and go down the hall, focusing fully on leaving, or else I wouldn't be able to do so.

My house isn't that far away from his, and I'm up for it, so I decide to walk home. I start down the sidewalk, my hands in my pockets, staring up at the sky that's still a flawless shade of aqua. It takes me half an hour, but eventually, I climb the front steps to my house, where I'm greeted by . . . Well, no one. And I'm not surprised. This house is so huge that nobody ever hears when someone comes or goes, meaning it would be laughably easy for me to sneak out. That may come in handy later on.

Smiling mischievously, I slink up the spiral staircase that leads to my wing of the house. Yes, I have a wing; I told you my parents were rich. All it consists of is my bedroom, my bathroom, my work room, and a big closet for my out-of-season clothes and some boxes.

I go into my room and change out of my bathing suit into a pair of cotton lounging pants and a tank top. Thanks to my evil teachers, I won't be going anywhere the rest of the day. I take all my books and my laptop onto the balcony, setting the items onto the glass-topped table before sliding the door shut behind me. I start up my computer with a sigh, flipping open my notebook and my French textbook.

Feh, conjugating irregular verbs. I have no idea when I'll ever need to speak French, besides in France or Canada, and I'm not planning on moving to either of those places. I whip through them boredly, not really caring if I did them right or not. Project in chem with Kira, the rest of Act II of Romeo and Juliet, a page of calculus problems, a test in history on Wednesday, but I'm busy Tuesday night. Whatever, history is easy, as long as I know the dates and the events, I'm set. Wait, a poem in English, due tomorrow? What! I must've been unconscious when this was assigned, 'cause I don't remember _any _mention of a poem.

I quickly sign onto Im and stab the caps lock button, my fingers flying over the keys as I ask Kira about the poem.

birdee518: . . .uh, what poem?

soxforever04: good question

soxforever04: it sez here dat it has 2 b 200 words over 3 letters long

soxforever04: due tomorrow

birdee518: WTF? NO WAY IN HELL!

soxforever04: lol, yeah, bad times

birdee518: I can't do this! does it have 2 rhyme?

soxforever04: dunno

birdee518: I H8 SCHOOL, DAMMIT!

soxforever04: u could write Kira loves Athrun a buncha times

birdee518: (blush) NOOO!

soxforever04: lol, sry, thaz what I might do, cept da other way around

birdee518: not a poem, baka

soxforever04: feh. u done w/ ne thing yet?

birdee518: no . . .sigh

soxforever04: French is done, Shakespeare is easy

soxforever04: same w/ calculus

birdee518: how is dat possible?

Soxforever04: want me 2 stop buggin u?

birdee518: u nvr bug me, Athrun

soxforever04: (insert kissy smilie)?

birdee518: yes. kissy x 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

soxforever04: really? (blush)

birdee518: yum, yes

soxforever04: yum? nani?

birdee518: yeah, kissing u is yum, I'm sure

soxforever04: ...

How can he say that so casually, dammit? I sign off and go into my room to get my cell phone, pressing the Kira speed dial button. "Hey," he says, knowing it's me before I even say anything.

"The computer was too impersonal for me. I want to hear your voice," I say, going back out onto the balcony and beginning my equations.

"I woulda called if you hadn't," he says, then mutters something about calculus.

"You want some help?" I ask, leaning back I my chair against the railing.

"Yes, if you don't mind," he replies.

"Of course not. Which problem?" I tap my mechanical pencil on my notebook of graph paper, waiting.

"All of them. I really don't understand, Athrun," he says helplessly.

"You want me to come over again?" I ask worriedly.

"I just got a call from my parents that they won't be home 'til later and Cagalli's not back yet," he says.

"I'll be right there. Your ankle okay?" I ask, holding the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I gather my stuff.

"Yeah, the swelling's gone down a bit, but it still hurts," he answers as I change into a pair of shorts and shove my stuff in my backpack.

"See ya soon, Kira," I say.

"Thank you so much, Athrun," he whispers. I hang up the phone and toss it on the bed, grabbing my car keys off my desk before going downstairs.

I don't know if I can handle any more time alone with Kira, just because I don't know how much longer I can keep myself from kissing him. I take a deep breathcalming myself as I pull out of the driveway. Not gonna do anything extreme, I tell myself.

A few minutes later, I run up the stairs and into his room; he's sitting on the bed, his math book in his lap as he rubs his ankle.

"Are you okay, Kira?" I ask, dropping my bag on the floor and sitting next to him, our bodies close. He looks up, his purple eyes twinkling with tears, "it hurts," he whispers in pain.

"Why did you let me leave in the first place if it was this painful?" I ask.

"I didn't want to be a bother to you," he whimpers.

"Don't say that, you're not. I'll go get some Advil or something." I go into the bathroom and find a bottle of painkillers under the sink, then return to his side. His takes the bottle from me and swallows two of the pills without a second thought.

I put my arm around his shoulders and he leans against me, crying softly as he clutches the fabric of my shirt.

"Shhh, you don't have to cry, I'm here," I whisper.

"Athrun, I don't know what I did to deserve you,"

"I should be saying that. I'm not great at all," I say, feeling self-conscious.

"Yes you are. You'll stay with me like this, right?" he whispers, pressing himself hard against me.

"That's not the only thing I wanna do with you," I purr, my lips close to his ear. His breath hitches slightly and he gives a small nod, indicating that this is what he wants.

I nibble on his earlobe gently and when he sighs softly in response, I start to kiss him along his jaw. His breath quickens considerably as my lips ghost over his, my arms around his slim waist. He wraps his arms around my neck, pulling me closer, his eyes pleading.

Gently, almost shyly, our lips meet. The touch sends a jolt through me, telling me to do more. His grip around my neck tightens as his lips part slightly, inviting me to touch my tongue to his lips. He slowly opens his mouth and I slip my tongue inside, getting my first taste of him. And dammit, he tastes good. There's something particularly pleasurable about th wet heat of his mouth that makes me want to kiss him for hours.

A low moan escapes my throat as our tongues touch, then I reluctantly pull away, breathing hard. I open my eyes and he smiles, his eyes half-lidded, "is that what you wanted?" I ask, brushing my fingers across his cheek.

"Yes, more than what I expected," he sighs, running a hand through my hair. His eyes flutter open all the way and he softly whispers, "I love you."

My heart leaps as those sweet words pass through his lips. "I love you, too, Kira. More than anything," I sigh, nipping at his neck.

"Is that so?" a voice says from behind us. I turn around and my eyes widen in terror to see Cagalli standing in the doorway.

TBC . . .

MUHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER!


	3. Revenge and Revelations

**A/N: Okay, everyone, this slightly shorterchapter contains LIME! If you do not know what this is, or do not like it, PLEASE DO NOT READ! Other than that, thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em comin':)**

**Chapter Three: Revenge and Revelations**

"What in fucking hell do you mean you're in love with him!" Cagalli screams.

"I just am, okay? I don't know how it happened either but –"

"I don't want your excuses, bastard!" she interrupts.

"I never meant for you to find out!" I retort.

"So you were planning on having an affair with my _brother_!" she clenches and unclenches her fists, her anger obviously rising as storm clouds roll in above us. The thunder rumbles to match her ferocity as I wait for the rain to start thrashing my body. I have a feeling this storm is going to be vicious because of all the good weather we've been having lately.

"No, I was gonna tell you, I just had to figure out if I really wanted to break up with you so I wouldn't regret my decision," I say, trying to calm her down with my explanation.

"So you've been _planning on_ dumping me?" she yells.

"Why do you take everything I say and reverse the meaning?" I snap, starting to get irritated.

"Because that's what you're really trying to tell me! Y'know what? I don't care! Just go fuck him already! Make him your goddamn boyfriend! There are plenty of other guys for me to date!" the droplets start to fall, gentle at first, then the heavy downpour I expected begins.

I can't distinguish her bitter tears from the rain as she glares at me, "Cagalli . . ." I take a step towards her, but she backs away, hugging herself protectively.

"Don't touch me!" she snarls, "just leave me alone!" There's not much I can so besides obey her because when she's mad, she doesn't listen to what anyone says. It's pointless to stand out here in the rain and yell at each other.

"I'll give you your space," I mutter, turning to go back inside.

"No! You're going home! Leave my brother alone, too!" she yells.

"I'm going to get my backpack, then I'm outta here!" I shout, slamming the front door behind me. I stomp up the stairs and go into his room, snatching my bag up off the floor. My glare disappears when I see him sitting at his desk, working on the calculus problems.

"Hey, I thought you were having trouble?" I say, puzzled.

"I'm not doing math," he says, his eyes never leaving the paper.

"Lemme guess: drawing me?" I ask as I go over to look.

"No, I was just–" I snatch the notebook away so I can look at what he's been doing. I think it's me, but I'm awfully short, and even then a quarter of my height is my head.

"What's this?" I cock my head the side, studying it.

"A chibi," he replies.

"Bless you, I hope you're not getting sick. Now what is it?"

He laughs and shakes his head, "I didn't sneeze, it's a chibi - mini."

"Oh, I get it, I think," now that I have a better understanding, I think it really is kinda cute.

I'm about to ask him to draw one of himself for me to have, but then I remind myself of my newly-acquired, (and very pissed off), ex-girlfriend who's just itching for me to leave. Knowing Cagalli, though, she could be plotting, not wanting me to leave so she could kick the crap out of me for not listening to her.

Gulping, I decide not to wait and find out what she's planning to do to me.

"I should go before your sister kills me. Just copy off my answers and give me my notebook back tomorrow," I say, fishing through my bag for the book. I set it on the desk and he looks up at me with sad eyes, "you can't leave me here with her," he whines.

"But Kira –" "I can come to your house!" he exclaims, his expression considerably brightens.

"Tomorrow is a school day, Kira-chan, and I need to finish my homework. She won't hurt you," I say quietly, patting his head. He frowns and looks away, then nods.

"Alright, I'll be fine, you're right. I'm sorry for causing you all this trouble," he forces a smile as our eyes meet again. I can't stand when he fakes being happy just to reassure me.

"It's okay if you wanna cry," I whisper, stroking his face gently.

"But you make fun of me when I cry!" he retorts.

"That's because you're cuter when you smile," I say, grinning. He wipes the tears forming in his eyes and gives a small smile, watching as I shoulder my backpack.

"Now get to work. No failing because of me. And stay off that ankle so we can go to the game," I say sternly.

"Jeez, you sound like my mom," he laughs.

"Well, thanks, I appreciate that," I call as I go down the hall. Despite everything that's happened today with the beach and now Cagalli, somehow I can still smile, knowing that I made Kira happy.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" I ask as we walk down the busy hallway the next afternoon at lunchtime.

"I have to, don't I? I mean, I want to be with you, then yes," Kira replies. I nod in agreement and stop at the stairway that leads up to the roof.

"Good luck, see you in ten," I say. I watch as he disappears into the crowds, then run up the stairs, throwing the door open and closing it behind me as the warm wind ruffles my hair.

I let out a sigh and go to sit down in my usual spot, perched on the corner of the wall with my back to the gate. After some kid tried to jump off once, they put up this chainlink. There are times I can remember when I wanted to climb the gate and just let go, let it all come to an end. You must be wondering why I'd want to do that, what with my rich parents and having everything I ever wanted.

Y'see, that was back when Kira went to a different school for a while. The beginning of high school, actually. The first time he applied here, he didn't get in, so he had to wait a year before re-applying. It was probably the worst year of my whole life, being without him. Sure, we went to each others houses after school every day . . .For a while. Then we started getting more homework than we were used to and our grades couldn't survive if we met like that every afternoon.

I went two and a half weeks without seeing him, longer than anytime before in my entire life. During those weeks was when I stood on this same wall and climbed half way up the gate before getting scared. I was afraid of dying. If I die, I thought when I was clinging to the gate like that, I'll never see him again, ever. I figured that was worse than a few weeks. Even then I guess I was pretty obsessed, huh? Why didn't I realize before? If I've loved him for so long, why didn't I figure it out? It doesn't matter, as long as I know it now.

I don't notice the sound of the door opening and closing, not until he says my name do I snap out of my flashback.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I ask, opening my eyes.

"Good, she took it really well. She even wished us the best in our relationship," he says, sitting down close to me.

"Lacus has always been really understanding of peoples feelings, so I'm not surprised. I'm jealous that you didn't get screamed and sworn at," I say with a heavy sigh.

"It's alright, we don't have to worry about them anymore," he says.

"I know, but . . .Cagalli was so mad and I'm afraid that she's gonna try to get me back for this."

He frowns, "you never know, she might want her revenge. She does have quite the temper."

"I noticed. But enough about that, let's eat," I say.

"Yeah, I'm starving," he says.

"Bad times this morning?" I ask, taking my lunch out of my backpack.

"You could say that," he mutters.

I wonder what's _really_ going on at his house? This is the second time he's said "bad times" about his home life. I would ask for the specifics if he didn't seem so uneasy about mentioning it. I always thought his parents got along really well. They're closer than my parents act, at least.

"If you're that hungry, then have some of my food," I offer him a mini cannoli and some gourmet pretzels, both made by the chefs.

"No, that's alright. I'm okay," he says.

"You don't have to say that when I know it's not true, Kira," I whisper. His eyes dart away and I watch as he clenches and unclenches his fists in his lap, biting down hard on his bottom lip.

"Plus, you're so skinny, it wouldn't hurt to gain a pound or two," I run my hand over his abs and he gasps at the sudden caress.

"Stop it, Athrun,"he snaps.

"Oh, c'mon, let me have a little fun," I say, pretending to pout.

"Not at school," he retorts, snatching one of the pastries from me.

"Feh, you're mean," I say, crossing my arms. He smirks at my bad acting at being angry and I smile back.

I'm not gonna bug him about his family situation, 'cause I know he'll tell me eventually. I'm just glad that we can be together now that our girlfriends are out of the picture . . .Hopefully.

I come home that afternoon and start up my laptop, checking my e-mail as usual, and I find one from Cagalli . . .That unleashes a virus into my computer!

"That damn bitch!" I mutter as I sink into the couch as Spybot and Norton Antivirus run their checks in a desperate attempt to save my files.

When I notice how slowly it's processing, I whip a blank disk out of my backpack and save my whole folder of documents and pictures to it just before the Blue Screen of Death takes the place of my background. Cagalli is one of the few people who knows how much I love my laptop, so she obviously did this on purpose.

"Feh, I'm gonna have to sweep the hard drive," I sigh as I stand up. If I'm gonna do this, I need a snack.

"What happened to your computer, dear?" my mom asks as I enter the kitchen.

"E-mail from Cagalli attacked it with a virus," I reply.

"I thought you two were dating? Why would she do something like that?" she asks. I guess if I'm gonna tell one of my parents, I would rather have it be my mom.

"It's a long story, if you're willing to listen," I say, grabbing the quart of Reverse the Curse ice cream out of the giant freezer.

"Of course. I'll do that for you," taking the ice cream scoop from me, she pushes me back into the sitting room.

At least now I have some time to compose myself before I reveal my deep dark secret. Judging by my churning stomach, it's not nearly long enough when my mom comes to sit on the couch with me. She hands me the bowl of ice cream and I set it aside on the coffee table; no distractions, I have to do this.

"Tell me what happened," she says.

"Well, I . . . Broke up with her yesterday and she was really pissed off about it," I say.

"Is there someone else that you want to date?" she asks.

"Yeah," I answer, the nervousness growing.

"Do I know her?" Oh, gods, here we go.

"Sort of . . . And Cagalli knows them very well."

"Oh, so she's mad because you dumped her for her friend," my mom says, sounding like she thinks she's figured it out. Heh, far from it.

"Not exactly. This person is related to Cagalli," I crack my knuckles, waiting, but my mom doesn't say anything.

"And I know them really well, too. And we just realized that we want to be more than friends, that's why I broke up with Cagalli."

While she takes in my explanation, my eyes flitter around the room, searching for an occupation besides her face.

"This person isn't a girl, is it?" she asks carefully.

"No . . . It's Kira. I'm in love with him, mom!" I yell. She smiles kindly and puts her hand over mine.

"I already knew what was going on, but I wanted you to tell me yourself," she says.

"WHAT! You _knew_! How?" I shout in surprise.

"Mrs. Yamato told me the topic of the yelling match that she overheard going on this morning. Then she told me what cagalli told her. She said her daughter saw the two of you, er, 'sucking face' as Cagalli put it."

Fuck! That's all I need her to know! So what if I was snogging him? The world doesn't need to know about my romantic involvements, at least not without my permission.

I bury my face in my hands, my cheeks bright red, "did you have to use that phrase?" I groan, covering my head with a pillow and turning to her.

"Athrun, if it's really what you want to do, then I think you should go ahead and date him." There are _other_ things I want to do, but I'm not mentioning them to my mom.

"Don't think I can't see that look in your eyes, Athrun!" she yells, pulling on my ear before leaving the room.

"Wait, what? How'd you know that I was thinking about having se–" I catch myself before I can blurt it out as I follow her into the hallway that leads to the back of the house.

"I knew ir! So you do want to!" she exclaims.

"Yeah, and pretty badly at that," I admit.

"You two have fun then," she calls as she goes up the stairs to the parent wing.

"Just please, please, please don't tell dad!" I yell in a pleading voice.

"I won't, don't worry." Like I'm gonna believe that! My dad will KILL me if he finds out I've switched sides.

At least it wasn't my dad, or his dad, that found out, I remind myself as I slouch up to my wing with my laptop and ice cream. The moment I flop down on my bed with my laughably easy homework, my cell phone rings. When I see that the Kira number is displayed on the screen, I hesitate, reminding myself not to slip up and mention the topic my mom and I were just discussing.

"Hey, Kira," I say, trying to sound calm.

"I was calling to tell you that my ankle is feeling much better and I'm sure I'll be fine when we go to the game tomorrow," he says.

"Are you sure? If you're not up to it then we don't have to go just because I want to," I object.

"Are you kidding? Of course I want to go! I'd go see the Sox play even if I was in a cast!"

We're both crazy-dedicated like that. Guess that's how it is when you've been a fan all your life and never seen your team win a World Series. Eighty-six years, and I've been waiting for seventeen of those, but I digress.

"You need help with your homework?" I ask as I roll over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.

"No, I'm okay. You shouldn't be worrying about me," he replies.

"Yeah, but I sort of have to, and I want to. You're the one I want to protect, Kira.," I say quietly. I can tell by the pause before he speaks that he's blushing.

"And I want you to protect me, so . . . "

"You don't know how many other things I want to do," I whisper.

"I wouldn't mind trying some of those things."

"You know what kind of 'things' I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah."

"Kira . . .I . . . Want to . . . Have sex with you," I mutter, blushing.

"Athrun . . .I'm still a virgin, y'know," he says timidly.

My eyes widen, "what! You didn't screw Lacus?" I ask in disbelief.

"No, I was going to, but . . . I dunno."

That means I'll be his first, if and when we do it, 'if' being more appropriate there. With chicks, it's the last thing you wanna do, but it's different since we're both guys.

"Kira . . .Will you let me be your first?" I whisper.

"Oh God, yes, Athrun!" he gasps. His breathing has become as heavy and fast as mine, "I want it now," he whimpers.

"We can't do it yet. It'll ruin our relationship in the long run if we go too fast," I whisper. What am I saying? What a lie! If we wouldn't get caught, I'd go over there right now!

"Please, Athrun!" he whines.

"Do you want to get caught?" I hiss, trying to ignore how much his begging and panting is turning me on. I try to calm down, but my mind is filled with various ideas and images that make me even more nervous.

"Kira, we could just . . . Do it . . . Like this," I say, pausing as I unzip my shorts and force them off my hips, kicking them onto the floor. I quickly close and lock the door as he whispers, "okay . . .But, I don't know how."

"I think I do, but I've never done it before," I say, leaning back against the pillows.

"Teach me how," he pleads.

"You're just meant to be submissive, aren't you?" I breathe as I fiddle with the waistband of my boxers.

"I _am_ less experienced, so . . ."

"I take it that . . .You're . . ." I begin.

"Yes . . ." he answers hesitantly.

"I'm not alone then. I think we just . . ."

"That can't be it," he says.

"What else could we possibly do?" I ask.

"I dunno . . ." he pants. When I figure out what he must be doing, I slip my hand into my underwear, and, realizing how hard I am, I start to pump. A moment later, he groans and murmurs my name over and over as I bite my lip, struggling to stay quiet.

"Kiraaaaa," I finally moan. I move my hand, faster, harder, as I feel myself getting close to the edge, but I want him to go over with me.

"How close?" I barely manage to ask.

"Very," he gasps. A small smile parts my lips; if I go fast enough, we can finish together.

"Athrun!" he cries just a moment before my back arches off the bed and I scream his name, the fluid rushing from my body. Our breathing slowly evens out and my thoughts become more than fragments again.

"I'll let you get cleaned up . . ." I whisper.

"Yeah, I think I have to wash my sheets now. Ick, yeah," he says.

"Good times, good times," I say, laughing.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course. Bye." Oh gods . . .Wasn't I supposed to avoid the topic of sex? I think I used reverse psychology on myself.

"What a mess," I mutter as I go to wash my hands.

I put my, er, soiled underwear into the laundry basket with the rest of my dirty clothes and dart back to my room, unseen, to get dressed. wonder how Kira's mom will react when she sees what happened to his sheets? Laughing softly, I start my homework as I listen to the radio, drinking my fully melted ice cream and trying not to choke on a mini caramel cup in the process.

I get distracted after a while by the tickets to tomorrow's game sitting on my desk and I begin to get my stuff together to go to the park. I'm basically unsettled about what just went on and I need something to focus on besides Kira or my French verbs, the only thing I haven't completed.

I go down to the kitchen with the empty bowl and as I'm going upstairs, my mom calls to me from the sitting room.

"Yeah?" I ask, peering around the doorframe.

"Next time, you might wanna keep it down. I heard you all the way down here," she says casually.

My face heats up and I scurry up to my room, ready to dive under my bed and stay there if I find out she knows anything more about our relationship with Kira. Gods, she knows everything we've done so far . . . I _really_ can't wait to move out.

TBC . . .

**A/N: I barely had the guts to type this. My brother and mom were loitering around the kitchen, which the computer room is attached to, while I was writing the lime part, so you better appreciate it! I almost got caught! Chapter 4 will be up soon! ;) **


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**A/N: This chapter talks a lot about baseball, so if it doesn't interest you, I'm sorry! Please enjoy despite that!**

**Chapter Four: The Calm Before the Storm**

All day I try to focus on thoughts of the Red Sox and Boston rather than Kira, and I end up failing miserably. My French notebook is full "je t'aime Kira,"(1) my math book goes from calculus problems to a page of Athrun + Kira, and in history I have a time line of our friendship, leading up to today. You get the idea, right? I'm obsessing.

I smile to myself as I make my way through the halls to leave that afternoon, avoiding any teachers I spot; I'm cutting practice so we can go to the game.

"Hey Zala!" a voice yells from behind me. I turn to see Mr. La Flaga striding towards me, his usual lop-sided smile on his face, causing any girls he walks by to pass out.

"Uh, h-hi coach, I was just–"

"I heard that you and Kira are going to see the Sox tonight, right? Have fun,"he says.

"Wait, then what about practice?" I ask, puzzled.

"I have, uh, plans," he says with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"A date, coach?" I inquire carefully.

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone I'm going out with Murrue," he whispers.

"My English teacher!" I exclaim, then clamp my mouth shut when I realize what I said.

"Yes, her, the hot one. I won't bust on you and Kira for being an item if you do the same for me," he says in a hushed voice.

"WHAT! H-how'd you–" I sputter.

"Heh, call it instinct," he says with a wink as he disappears into the crowds of students.

HOW THE HELL DOES HE KNOW! Feh. Things are getting weirder around here by the day. I sigh, shaking my head as I shuffle the rest of the way down the hall then hop down the steps as Kira pulls up in his convertible. We both changed out of our uniforms into our Red Sox attire, jerseys and hats, and the tickets are in my wallet.

"What's wrong? You get caught?" he asks as I slump down in the passenger seat.

"No, practice is cancelled. Coach La Flaga is dating Ms. Ramius," I reply.

"Really? No way! How do you know?" he exclaims as he pulls out of the parking lot.

"He told me so," I say.

"As long as we're not in trouble," he sighs.

"No, I'm sure the two of them will be in good moods tomorrow, so we won't be punished for anything."

"You don't think . . .?" he looks over at me with a questioning gaze.

"Oh, I'm sure of it. La Flaga seems like the type that's not patient with those kinds of things. And neither are you," I whisper the last sentence with a smirk on my lips.

"Oh yeah! Then why am I a virgin and you're not, huh?" he retorts, swerving into the next lane.

"You never really loved Lacus," I state.

There's a long pause and he shakes his head, "no, I didn't. It was always you," he smiles angelically as we come to a stop, the traffic jammed because of an accident a few miles ahead of us.

I glance forward to make sure the cars aren't moving before leaning over and quickly kissing him on the cheek. I laugh when I see the reaction of the girl in the car next to us, her eyes the size of oranges. I flip my middle finger at her as we speed off down the highway, leaving the homophobic bitch in a cloud of dust.

Since we have a couple hours to spare before th game starts, instead of going into the park, we go to the merch shop on the other side of Yawkey Way.

"You buying anything for your family?" I ask as we wander around the large store. I cringe when I see the list he pulls out of his pocket; four of the items have the letter "C" next to them.

"What does she want? I snap, hoping that whatever she's looking for is sold out in every size and color.

"A necklace with matching earrings, a 'Yankees Suck; T-shirt, and, ick, panties," he gives a repulsed expression and I wonder what kind of sicko she really is, sending her little brother to buy panties for her. And in a highly populated area, no less.

I can only come up with one logical definition, and that's revenge on him for making me break up with her. The whole snog-grope-sex cycle was old hat to me anyway. Now I wonder why I stayed with her so long when I could've been dating the boy standing by my side. I take his hand and drag him to the back of the store, secretly scheming against Cagalli.

"Y'know, Kira, Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that allows same-sex marriage," I say seductively as he browses among the jackets and sweatshirts, even though we have matching ones of the latter already. Glaring at me, he drifts over to the next rack, which is right near the women's clothing.

"Athrun, you should buy this!" he exclaims, brandishing a tiny spaghetti strap tank top at me.

"This would look good on you, Kira," I say, holding up a tank top with a notch in the low V-neck.

Laughing at our own bad jokes, we return to the front of the store. We end up with a camo shirt for me, that tank top (yes, I convinced him into buying is. Hehehehehe), the items his parents requested, a pink Yankee Hater hat (2) for Lacus and a _real_ Yankees hat for Cagalli. Serves the vengeful bitch right for attempting to, and almost succeeding in, destroying my precious laptop.

Still beaming at how brilliantly evil I am, I follow him out of the store and into the bustling street.

"We have an hour and a half 'til the first pitch," he says, looking up from his watch as we loiter by one of the entrances to the park.

"Autographs!" I yell, snatching the mesh bag of baseballs from him. I give him the shopping bag in return, then hurry inside with the black Sharpie in my back pocket.

"C'mon, Kira!" I shout, waving to him over the crowds from where I stand on the ramp that leads up into the park.

"I am, jeez!" he calls, pushing people aside.

That's when I recognize the person standing nearby, looking up at the TV that hangs from the ceiling.

"Holy crap!" I mutter, frantically taking one of the baseballs out of the bag.

"Excuse me, Mr. Epstein, would you sign this for me?" I ask, running down to stand before him.

"Sure," he says, taking the two objects from me.

"Keep up the good work you're doing for the team," I say. (3)

"Thanks, I will," he smiles and hands me my souvenir, then I dart over to Kira.

"Look, look, look!" I yell, waving the ball in his face.

"Stop moving! I can't read it!" He grabs my wrist and pushes me back a little so the writing comes into focus for him.

"Wow! That's awesome!" he says excitedly.

"I know, I'm so good when it comes to getting autographs," I say smugly. We go up the ramp and into the park, the warm evening breeze blowing across the filed from behind us.

"Right out to center," I comment, half to myself, as we weave through the rows of seats down to the dugout.

While I'm sprawled across the top of it, pushing small children out of the way so I can have more room, he watches me from a row or two back, so he won't hurt his ankle again.

"You're not gonna lay there until the game starts, right?" he asks.

"Maybe, it depends," I call over my shoulder.

"They'll kick you out and let some kid have your spot, he says, quickly coming to stand beside me when the preppy girl leaves.

"She was getting a bit too close for comfort," he mutters, glaring at the blonde as she disappears.

"Too close for _your_ comfort, right?" I ask, glancing at him. He grins, rubbing his shoulder against mine as he leans over next to me.

"You're so posses - Ortiz, over here!" I yell, flailing my arm around.

Everyone around me is doing a similar action, voices trying to drown out all the others. Kira starts yelling with me, waving the Sharpie dangerously and almost taking out the eye of the seven-year-old to his left. The big, good-natured DH for the Red Sox, David Ortiz, heads towards the dugout and, to my utter disbelief, takes the baseball and marker from us. We both blink in awe, looking stupid, as he scrawls his autograph on the white leather, then hands it back to me with a smile.

We beam at each other, then start laughing loudly for no reason other than our strange but amazing good luck today. I just _happened_ to be the only one he gave an autograph to. The rest of the kids and teens are scowling at us, the younger ones crying, but I just grin and flash them the "V" sign. Since I'm feeling kind, I give up my spot, deciding two kick-ass autographs are enough for one game.

"The bet," he says quite randomly as we return to the interior of the park.

"Not today. I'll let you off easy 'cause you're injured," I say.

"Actually, it'd probably be easier for me to get on TV if I limp. They'll have sympathy for me," he says thoughtfully.

"That's why I'm calling it off for this game," I say with a shrug.

"You cheater! That's not fair! You should only have two because you flirted with that camera girl until she let you on!" he yells as we enter the concourse.

"No, 'cause I'm naturally hot. You're not naturally injured," I respond simply. I stand in line behind a chick in a cowboy hat, waiting to buy my overpriced food.

"You hungry?" I ask.

"Only if you're buying," he says, ducking under the rope that makes the line to stand with me.

"You're lucky, but I'm not paying for you on Friday!" I say.

"Oh, c'mon, you know you will anyway," he says, clinging to my arm and smiling up at me.

"If you keep acting so damn adorable, then yes," I whisper.

"Ahem," comes an annoyed voice from behind us. The guy shoves us forward, obviously grossed out by our display of affection for each other.

"Fuck you," I snap while Kira gets the food. He hates it when I fight with pedestrians, so I have to distract him.

"I'm sure you'd like to, you fag," the guy replies venomously.

"I don't like bitter, ugly guys like you," I retort.

"Athrun, stop it! I told you what I think of you doing that!" Kira grabs me by the arm and yanks me over to one of the picnic tables.

"But Kira, he called me a fag," I whine, "all I want is one punch, c'mon!" He rolls his eyes at my violent intentions, munching on some French fries.

"Feh, be that way then," I say, sulking as I take a sip of my Coke.

"Is there anyone on the Angels that we need to worry about?" he asks, trying to distract me from my anger.

"Vladimir Guerrero," I answer, still glaring at the bastard I was fighting with.

"Oh, right. Athrun, please don't be this pissed off. It's not a big deal," he says, his eyes begging me.

"You're just passive about insults," I'm feeling particularly stubborn, so I decide not to give in to his deep purple eyes and their helpless shine.

"Please! I won't go on a date with you!"

"You didn't have to go that far, jeez, I'm sorry," I snatch a chicken wing from him and grin, "but if I see that guy again, I'm hitting him."

"I give up, you're hopeless," he sighs.

"Thank you, I know."

The game ends just after ten, both of us smiling with satisfaction as we run across the dark parking lot, darting out of the way of cars trying to leave. I hum the bass line of "Dirty Water" and Kira sings the lyrics: "down by the river, down by the banks of the river Charles! That's where you'll find me, down with the lovers, fuckers and thieves. I love that dirty water, oh, Boston, you're my home!"

This scene is incredibly funny to anyone walking by because he can't sing for his life and I'm off by a few beats. But so what? We ended August by winning our seventh straight, twenty-one of our last twenty-eight, so why shouldn't we be happy? We stop at the side of the road, breathing had from singing and running at the same time, and wait to cross.

"Good game, huh?" he asks between breaths.

"Yeah, any game we win is a good one," I laugh. I take his hand and we go over to the other sidewalk, his head resting on my shoulder as we go towards the stairs that lead down to the street where we parked.

"Tired?" I ask softly. He nods and nuzzles against my arm, yawning.

"Don't fall asleep leaning on me like this! Wait until we get to the car!" I exclaim, shaking him awake. He takes the keys out of his pocket, his eyes still closed, and pushes them into my hand.

"You only get to drive this once," he says.

"Alright, and I promise not to wreck your car," I whisper. The branches of the trees above us sway in the cool wind, a few vibrant green leaves fluttering down from them. He lifts his head, rubbing one eye sleepily, "it's not that late," I comment.

"Yeah, but I was up 'til two this morning," he says.

"Doing what?" I ask, curious.

"Thinking about you," he smiles shyly and looks into my eyes, a slight flush on his face. I tilt his chin upwards and gently kiss him, a little gasp escaping his mouth. He presses his hands against my chest, my arms around his waist, "I love you," I whisper as I lay light kisses down his neck.

"Athrun, we're in public . . ." he sighs.

"I'm just doing what I wanted to earlier," I breathe against his warm skin, evoking a shudder from him.

"But I'll save the rest of the fun for later," I say as I pull him the rest of the way down the sidewalk to the car.

By the time I'm done putting the top up, he's already fallen asleep in the passenger seat, his lips parted as he takes quiet sleeping-breaths. I smile, turning the key in the ignition and put on the post-game wrap up show for the drive home. The lights of the city dance across his face as I drive through the busy streets, thinking about how happy I am for once. Now that I can be with the one I'm really in love with, everything else seems to be getting better as well. I know peace like this won't last, because there's still the issue of Cagalli.

"Oh gods . . ." my mouth hangs open in shock when as I take in the sight before me. I've just parked Kira's car in my drive way, since my parents refused to come pick me up from his house, I had to borrow his Corvette.

I stare at my Z3, which was safely parked in the garage, so how do I explain the words _scratched_ into the sparkling silver paint? "You suck, bastard!" "Stupid fag!" "Asshole!" are inscribed on the sides and the trunk. On the hood, in fancy script red spray paint letters, it says "Love, Cagalli" with a dripping heart, making it look bloody.

"YOU BITCH!" I scream, slamming my fist down onto the roof of my now destroyed sports car. How am I supposed to keep my parents from seeing this? Namely my dad, really. My mom knows about me and Kira, but my dad will have a conniption. One, because I let my car get vandalized, and two, because I'm in love with a boy.

"I'm gonna beat the fucking shit outta you, Cagalli!" I yell into the night.

She's as good as dead. First my laptop, now my car, what next? What other items do I value? My eyes widen and I close the garage door, kicking off my sneakers and running up to my room. I push the door open hesitantly, almost afraid to see the interior. And for good reason: the glass of the door to the balcony is smashed, my comforter ripped open and the feather strewn all over the floor. The curtains have been torn off the rods and tied into knots, my bookshelf and CD rack tipped over.

Trying to contain my rage, I walk over to the desk and pick up the red piece of paper I find sitting among my shredded homework.

**Dear Athrun-chan,**

**I hope you like what I've done to your car and your room. I think they both deserved my wonderful remodeling jobs. Have fun at the game with my brother? Good, 'cause it'll be the last one you go to.**

**Love,**

**Cagalli **

I tear the note in half and throw it into the trash, falling to my knees and crawling over to look under my bed. The box I keep my Red Sox tickets in is overturned and totally empty. Not a single one still lies on the velvet covering on the bottom of the box.

"**FUCK!" **I scream, falling onto my back on the carpet. My gods, I'm gonna strangle her. My tickets. _My tickets! _

"My tickets!" I shout, wrenching at my hair as I choke on the sobs that threaten to escape my throat.

I don't even wanna look at my other rooms. They're probably in even worse shape. But I do anyway. I force myself to get up off the floor, no matter how much I want to lie there and scream, I go down the hall into my work room. The lock has been picked and the door swings open, revealing another scene of horrible destruction. All my spare robot parts have been thrown on the floor, all mixed together, and my blueprints have been scribbled on with various colors of Sharpie. Scratched into the surface of the desk with a screwdriver is a heart that says "A+C 4 EVER" inside of it.

I clench my fists so hard they turn white as I leave for the bathroom, preparing myself for lots of shattered substances. Both of the mirrors are smashed, the porcelain sinks cracked with what looks like hammer blows, the tile of the shower receiving the same treatment. The bathtub is full of a mixture of all of my shampoos, the empty bottles lying on the floor. I can't stand to see anymore. (4)

"MOM! DAD! GET UP HERE!" I scream, leaning over the railing and scowling down into the entryway. They both come running up the stairs and I point to my rooms one at a time.

"Cagalli," I say through gritted teeth.

My mom follows my dad into my bedroom and upon seeing the demolished objects, he says, "Lenore, call the Yamato household." She scurries down the stairs to get the phone from the kitchen while my dad surveys the damage, under my direction to the most important points.

"She took my tickets, dad," I say.

"Why weren't they locked up!" he yells.

"They were," I hold up the box and the mangled lock for proof.

The rest of that hellish night consists of a yelling match between Mr. Yamato and my dad while I pretend to sleep in the guest bedroom. I want Cagalli to be punished for what she did, but I don't want the Yamato family to have to pay for it. I don't think they can afford to replace everything that their demon spawn of a daughter destroyed.

I roll over and grab my cell phone off the night stand, on which sits a few of the other items I salvaged from the wreckage of my bedroom. I press the Kira cell phone speed dial button and pray for him to pick up.

"Athrun, I'm so sorry for what she did to your stuff! I promise I'll make her repay you for every single thing!" he cries.

"Kira, it's not your fault, don't get involved. Did she hurt you?" I ask quietly.

"No, I'm okay, she was locked in her room when I came home," he replies, his voice lowered a notch or two.

"No wonder. Wanted to look innocent," I grip the sheets in my fists, glaring up at the ceiling. I can hear Cagalli and her mother yelling in the background and I curl up into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest.

"As long as she didn't hurt you, Kira. Everything else is replaceable," I say.

"But it'll cost thousands!" he says, his voice getting louder again.

"If we're lucky, she'll have to pay every penny. I'm sure our parents will agree on something that'll amount to that."

I smirk at the idea of Cagalli having a job, doing something other than stomping around all day. I consider mentioning this to him, but just then, I hear my dad's calmed voice say, "I'm glad we could come to this solution," before he hangs up.

"I'm gonna go find out what happened," I whisper.

"Same here. Good night, Athrun-chan," he says.

"Sweet dreams, koibito." I slink down the hall to my parent's room and poke my head in, squinting in the bright light.

"So?" I ask eagerly.

"We're going to buy everything, but Cagalli has to get a job and pay us back for it," my mother replies with a smile.

"Yeah! Fuck yeah!" I yell, thrusting my fist into the air with triumph.

"Watch your mouth, young man," my dad snaps, but I can see the satisfaction in his face at the outcome of this ordeal.

"G'night," I say, shuffling back down the hall. I nestle into the blankets, smiling evilly at the thought of how pissed Mr. and Mrs. Yamato must be at Cagalli. But what the parents have agreed on doesn't fully suit me. I want revenge now, too.

"What happened? Please tell me!" Lacus yelps.

"Shhh, keep it down," Kira whispers. They're only trying to be quiet because I'm having my first confrontation with Cagalli since the incident.

"I'm sorry, okay? Take you goddamn tickets and leave me alone," she snaps, shoving an envelope at me. I take it from her and she folds her arms, glaring at the Yankees hat I gave her.

"You promise you won't take your anger out on your brother?" I ask.

"No, I won't touch your stupid boyfriend, happy?" she replies. Her amber eyes glint dangerously, but I can see the sorrow in them as well.

"Yes, thank you," I say.

The three of us watch as she vanishes into the crowds that flock the quad that day at lunch time. Lacus, for some reason, has decided to hang around us. Don't ask why she wants to be unpopular, but she is today. Her long pink hair is back in a simple ponytail which is pulled through the hole in the back of her Yankee Hater hat.

"Tell me the whole thing, Athrun," she demands.

"Can we go up on the roof? I don't want anyone else to overhear," I say. I take Kira's hand and Lacus follow us up the stairway to the roof.

"Wow! I never knew the view was so wonderful up here!" she exclaims, running over to the side to look out through the chainlink.

"See, if you weren't so busy being cool, you'd know," Kira laughs.

"Would you mind if I hung out with the two of you from now on?" she asks somewhat nervously.

We look at each other, surprised, and I nod, "sure, new companions are always welcome, right?" I say.

"Yay! Now tell me!" she sits down on the cement of the roof, her pleated skirt tucked under her knees, and we sit beside her, setting our backpacks aside.

"Athrun!" the door flies open and Dearka, Yzak, and Nicol run over to us.

"We heard about what that bitch did to your house!" Yzak yells.

"Oh, okay . . ."

"We want the whole story!" Dearka says.

"I'm sorry about this, Athrun, they made me come with them," Nicol says apologetically.

"It's fine, really, I was just going to explain to Lacus as well. Come sit," I gesture for them to join us and they throw their bags on top of ours, Dearka grumbling as he sits on the hard ground.

I'm just about to start when Kira says, "hey, I wonder how things went with Mr. La Flaga and Ms. Ramius?"

"You weren't supposed to mention that,"I hiss, smacking his forehead.

"No way! How did La Flaga get with Murrue?" Yzak says.

"One thing at a time," I sigh. Yzak and Dearka stop fighting and quiet down long enough for me to speak.

"Woah, whatta psychotic bitch," Dearka says ten minutes later, after I've told them of my destroyed property.

"How could you possibly be related to _her_, Kira?" Lacus asks.

"I've wondered the same thing," he says, looking quite ashamed of even sharing a house with her.

"And this was all because you dumped her?" Nicol asks, his eyes wide. I nod, then I realize I haven't told them who I dumped her for.

"You guys, I broke up with her so I can . . .Go out with . . ." the heat rises to my face and Kira looks away, his cheeks bright pink.

"Oh, we knew you two would get together eventually,"Yzak says, waving a hand dismissively.

"Yeah, Athrun, we could see you flirting with him when you probably didn't even know you were," Dearka snickers.

"What they mean to say is that they're happy for you," Nicol says, "and so am I."

"Thanks. So, from now on, Lacus is gonna be part of our group instead," Kira says, quickly changing the subject so we'll both stop blushing.

"Yes, I am," she nods.

"That means you have to stop being so polite, and act less girly," Dearka says, leaning close to her.

"But . . .That's how I am," she replies, pushing him away.

"Dearka, leave her alone. She can be however she wants. Don't you have your own girlfriend to bother?" I ask, grinning.

"Oh crap! I was supposed to meet Mir fifteen minutes ago! Bye you guys!" he yells, disappearing into the stairwell.

"Miriallia?" Kira asks.

"Yeah, the one on the field hockey team," Nicol answers.

"Feh, she's cute, if I liked girls," I shrug and leans back against the wall, my hands behind my head.

"Y'know who else should be in the Bitch Club with your sister, Kira? Flay (5)Allster,"Yzak shudders at the mention of her. I don't really know the girl, but I've heard rumors about her sleeping with 40 percentof the male student body, none of us included.

"Is it true that she's a hooker?" Lacus asks. I'm a bit surprised by her abrupt and rude question, but then again, she _is_ related to me.

"I dunno. Some of the other guys on the baseball team said they've seen her wandering around the bad part of downtown in some pretty racy outfits," Nicol says quietly.

"And what were _they_ doing in the bad part of downtown, hm?" Kira asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you suggesting that some of our teammates are class-A pervs? No way, never," I say sarcastically.

"Yeah, how _dare_ you, Kira," Yzak says scoldingly. Lacus bursts out laughing, her hands over her mouth in attempt to make herself stop.

"I never talk about things like this with my other friends," she says between snickers.

"Well, this is all we talk about, 'cause we're guys. Get used to it," Kira says.

"Yeah, we talk about sex, sports, and we make rude jokes," I say. Yzak, Nicol, and Kira nod in agreement.

"All girls talk about is clothes, but you discuss things that are interesting," Lacus says, finally calm.

"Interesting? That's a polite way to put it," Dearka throws the door open and comes over to us, followed by a girl, her short light brown hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Hi, everyone," she says with a small wave.

"Miriallia, meet Athrun, Kira, Yzak, Nicol, and Lacus," he says, pointing to each of us.

"Now Mir, if Dearka does anything super-pervy, just tell me, okay? I'll beat the crap out of him for you," Yzak says, smirking.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, but thanks anyway," she says.

"Welcome to the club. I think we all could," I say.

"SHUT UP ATHRUN!" Dearka shouts, flinging a rock at my head. I easily dodge it, but then he hits me with a random baseball.

"Ow, thanks for the concussion," I say, rubbing the lump on my head.

I can't help but smile though. This is how it always should've been: me and Kira together, with our little group of friends who have nothing in common besides being friends with us. Cagalli has been tamed by her parents, (took long enough), the Red Sox are on a winning streak, and, well, life is basically good . . .Or so I thought.

(1) -"I love Kira" in French

(2) - If you're wondering what they look like, just Google it.

(3) - Theo Epstein is the owner of the Red Sox and this scene comes from personal experience

(4) - I'm sorry, Athrun! It killed me to write this part. I feel so awful! Gomen x 1000, my bishie!

(5) - Anyone ever look up her name in the dictionary? It means to 1. whip or beat harshly 2. to strip the skin off of, such as a body or carcass.


	5. Mission Accepted

**Thanks for the reviews! I'll be going on vacation to Florida next week, (RED SOX SPRING TRAINING, BABY!), so if I don't post Chapter 6 before then, I'm sorry. **

**Chapter Five: Mission Accepted**

_Dear Kira Yamato,_

_Please meet me at the coffee shop in Portsmouth this afternoon at 3:30. There is something I would like to discuss with you._

_Love,_

_Flay Allster _

"Weren't we just talking about that slut?" I ask, snatching the slip of pink paper away from him.

"Yeah. Do you think I should go?" Kira asks. Sometimes his naivete is cute, but in this case, I can't believe it.

"Of course not!" I yell, "what do you think she wants to 'discuss' with you?" I ask, air quoting the word she used in her note. He thinks for a moment, then his eyes widen.

"Ohhh! You don't think she wants to–"

"What else could she possibly want? To be friends?" I scoff.

"Well, she might be a really nice person and all those things could be lies . . ." he mutters.

"Sure, the rumors aren't true. And my hair is orange!" I say, irritated. I know what that bitch wants with him: she wants a cheap fuck and to take his virginity in one fell swoop.

"C'mon, we won't know unless we go, please?" he begs.

"'We' as in you and me? You're offering for me to come?" I ask.

"If you're so suspicious, then sure, why not? Will you?" I give him a "no duh, moron," stare and slam my locker closed, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Is there practice today?" he asks.

"No, we have double practice tomorrow because of yesterday's cancellation," I reply, kicking the doors of the school open and taking the front steps two at a time.

"I'm already tired," he sighs, throwing his backpack in the second seat of his car.

I take off my blazer, (ick), and roll up the sleeves of my white button down. Man, I hate these uniforms. But I can't help but think that Kira looks awfully cute in it, his shirt tucked in and the top buttons undone, revealing his slim neck.

"Hey, that mark is gone. That means I have to give you another . . ." I say mischievously.

"You wish! Just drive!" he says, blushing.

"You're letting me again? I'm honored," I say sarcastically. He folds his arms and turns on the radio, adjusting the station until he finds a song he likes.

"So what are you going to say to Flay?" I ask after driving in silence for a while. We're about half way to Portsmouth, so I assume he's starting to worry, or maybe it's just me.

"What do you mean? She invited me, she can talk," he says, sounding stubborn like me.

"That's what I wanna hear. Now don't let her do anything to you," I say with a warning glance.

"I thought you were coming!" he exclaims.

"I am, just not to talk to her. I don't want to," I cringe at the thought of speaking to that stupid magenta-haired bitch.

He nods and gives a heavy sigh, slumping down in the leather seat, obviously wondering why he's even doing this. I'm wondering the same thing. What does he expect her to say to him besides "I wanna have sex with you, you hot little virgin boy,"? I roll my eyes at his insistence to try and see the best in everyone. It's a good quality of his that I definitely don't have.

I drop him off in front of Café Brioche and glance around suspiciously, looking for Flay. His eyes are quivering nervously when they meet mine, "are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" I ask, concerned.

"I want you to, but I know I should go alone," he calls, shaking his head.

"I'll be back here in fifteen minutes, okay! Be careful!" I yell.

"I will! No need to worry about me!" he shouts with a reassuring smile.

How am I supposed to not worry? This girl has the worst rep of anyone in the whole school, and she left a note to meet with _my _boyfriend. I pull into a parking spot and fill up the meter with coins; I'm assuming that after he's done at the café, he wants to walk around the city for a while. I wander aimlessly past the restaurants and shops, peering in the windows with fake interest at the objects for sale.

I'm outside the jewelry shop on the strip of stores diagonal from the corner the café is on when something catches my eye. Sitting on a bed of blue silk is a black leather choker with a heart made of red jade dangling from it by a small silver ring. Kira has this weird thing for chokers and buckles, and he's constantly looking for new additions to his collection of them. I have to buy it.

I throw the door open, the bell above it ringing loudly and I run over to the counter, glaring at the shopkeeper.

"I have to have that choker in the window," I snap, giving the woman a threatening look.

"O-okay, young man," she stutters, frightened. I watch as she goes over and takes the piece of jewelry from it's stand, carefully carrying it over to the counter.

"T-that'll be 44.99, please," she says, pulling a gift box off the shelf behind her.

I hand her a fifty from my wallet and she stares at it for a moment, like she's never seen someone use such a large bill so casually before. She wraps the choker in tissue paper and ties the box closed with purple ribbon, then hands me my 5.01.

"Thank you," I say, taking the box and holding it carefully as if being too rough with it will make it shatter.

Smiling, I kick the door of the shop open and look at my watch: it's quarter of four, time to go get Kira. I hold the box under my arm, cracking my knuckles as I cross the street and scowl in the front window of the café. If she so much as tried to hold his hand, she's in for some pain. Anything more, and I can't guarantee the safety of her life.

I enter the quiet coffee shop, my eyes darting to each of the tables before they settle on one in the back corner, where Kira and Flay sit, talking.

"Kira, we have to go," I snap, slamming my hand down on the table. Flay looks up at me, her grey eyes flashing menacingly as they narrow.

"Oh, Athrun Zala, star of the baseball team, huh? I hear that you and Kira are _awfully_ close, am I right?" she hisses.

"You could say that," I reply, swiping Kira's hand away from her as she tires to grasp it. "Mine," I mouth to her, pulling Kira to his feet.

"Uh, it was nice talking to you Flay. I'll have to get back to you about that question, okay?" he says.

"That's fine, but if you agree, come _alone_ next time,"she glares poisonously in my direction before leaving the café in a huff.

"What did she ask you?" I demand, turning him to look at me.

"She wants to go out with me tomorrow, that's all," he replies, avoiding my gaze.

"_That's all!_ You know what that leads to with girls like her, Kira! I don't trust her at all!" I yell as we go out into the warmth of the afternoon.

"But, she seemed so nice . . ."

"Yeah, that's exactly what she wants you to think! You're a kind person, Kira, and she's just going to use that against you," I say, mollifying my anger.

"I'm gonna go, just to prove you wrong, Athrun!" he retorts.

"Fine, get raped, why should I care! I'm only in love with you, you idiot!" I shout.

"I won't! Because she's not like that!"

"Did you see the dirty looks she was giving me? She's obviously up to no good!"

"Y'know what? You can walk home, 'cause I'm not driving you back!"

"I will!"

With that, the two of us storm off in opposite directions, my eyes blurred with bitter tears. Why did she have to come along and fuck everything up? My life was going great until that whore decided she liked Kira! I whip out my cell phone, barely able to see the numbers as I dial Lacus' cell.

"Hello?" she says.

"Will you come pick me up in Portsmouth? It's a long story, I'll explain later," I ask, wiping my eyes.

"Sure, Athrun, I'll be there as fast as I can!" she cries.

"Thanks, Lacus," I say, then hang up and shove the phone back into my pants pocket.

When Lacus pulls up to the curb in her sky blue Jaguar, I tiredly get into the passenger side and try to keep my expression neutral. And I do, until she asks why I'm not getting a ride from Kira.

"We got in a fight, Lacus! He's going on a date with that skank Flay tomorrow night!" I shout, pulling at my hair as the tears return to my eyes.

"You're worried about him having sex with her right?" I nod in response.

"Then why don't we just follow them? Dress in camo and black, then tail 'em wherever they go," she suggests with a wink. At that moment, my pink-haired cousin is the most brilliant person in the world.

"Kira can't be going on a date with Flay! He's _your_ boyfriend!" Yzak yells, flailing his arms around angrily.

"It was never official, though. We just said we loved each other," I sigh.

Yzak, Dearka,. Nicol, Lacus and I have cut school today so we can plan for tonight. I'm relieved that I don't have to go to class because I was so depressed last night that I couldn't do my homework.

"So are you going to come with us or what?" Lacus asks impatiently.

"Are you kidding me! Of course! Secret missions are awesome!" Dearka replies.

"If you plan on keeping them a secret, you're gonna have to quiet down for longer than fifteen minutes," Nicol says. Dearka grumbles, but doesn't object to this statement.

The five of us are sitting on the patio behind Lacus' house, waiting for the maids to bring us a snack. I'm lying there on the flagstone, staring up at the blindingly bright sky while Nicol kneels nearby, petting Lacus' dog, and Yzak and Dearka sit by the pool.

"So, what's our plan, Athrun?" Yzak asks, looking over at me.

"Nani? Why am I in charge?" I ask, sitting up and rubbing my eyes, trying to make the sunspots go away.

"It's your boyfriend she seduced," Dearka answers.

"Dearka!" Lacus and Nicol snap.

"No, it's alright, that's basically what happened. I don't know why I let him go alone like that! Now he's gonna get hurt and it's all my fault!" I clench my fists and squeeze my eyes shut, my head bowed.

"Hey, it's not your fault. Don't be so hard on yourself," Nicol says quietly.

"Yeah, man, if he's really in love with you, then he won't let her do anything," Dearka says in agreement.

"But he thinks she's innocent. He doesn't suspect an thing," I say.

"Athrun, nothing's gonna happen to him 'cause we'll be watching them," Yzak points out.

"Plus, I'm sure Kira would be able to kick her slutty little ass pretty well if she does anything he doesn't like," Lacus says.

I'm starting to get used to Lacus' change in speech, but that comment surprised me a little.

"So it's settled. You'll help me?" I ask, looking at each of them.

"Mission accepted," Dearka says with a smirk and a mock salute.

The other three do the same and I decide to play along, "meet me at my house at exactly nineteen hundred hours. Be equipped appropriately, I say, getting to my feet.

"Yes sir, Commander Zala!" they all exclaim.

At six thirty that night, the door bell starts ringing repeatedly just as I'm getting dressed for my mission. I run down the staircase in only my camo pants to answer it before the ringing makes my head explode.

"What?" I yell, flinging the heavy door open.

Lacus is standing there on the front step wearing a black strapless dress that has laces up the front and poofs out at the waist into layers of sheer fabric and silk.

"A dress, Lacus?" I ask.

"It's bad enough that I'm starting to talk like a boy. I'm not about to dress like one, too," she answers, stepping into the marble-floored entryway.

"I like your boots. Hot Topic, I'm guessing?" I comment, referring to her black corset boots.

"They're especially for the occasion," she says. Wow, my formerly preppy cousin went into Hot Topic, what is the world coming to!

"You can watch TV or something while I finish getting dressed," I say, gesturing towards the sitting room.

"Alright. Yzak and the others should be here any minute. I called them and they said they were coming by early as well," she says, making herself comfortable on the couch.

"Okay, I'll be right down!" I call, running up the stairs.

This must be a bigger deal than I thought if Lacus is willing to shop at Hot Topic for it and Dearka agreed to coming early. I fasten my studded belt and pull my shirt over my head, making sure the suede laces on the short sleeves and on the sides are tied. Even though they're not the best for running in, I put on my black Vans and grab my leather jacket before going back downstairs.

Nicol, Yzak, Dearka and Lacus loiter at the foot of the stairs, apparently waiting for me. They're all dressed similarly, Nicol in a black trench coat and jeans to match, Yzak wearing a blue camo T-shirt over a long-sleeved black shirt, and Dearka in a black V-neck tank with baggy pants.

"Yzak, what did you do to your hair?" I ask, eying the small braids in his silver locks.

"I did 'em. You like?" Dearka asks, resting his arm on a very pissed Yzak's shoulder.

"Yeah, they make you look so cute, Yzak," I say, pinching his cheek like he's a little girl.

"Shut up! I hate them!" he yanks the elastics out and shoots them across the room, shoving Dearka away from him.

"Ahem, we're going to be late," Lacus says, tapping her foot impatiently.

"How do you know that? Kira never said the time of the date, did he?" Nicol asks me.

"No, but I called over there and Cagalli told me," I reply.

"WHAT! You _called_ her? And she told you!" Dearka says, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah, she said she was getting over me and totally hated Flay, so she gave me the info. Seven thirty tonight," I say.

"Is he picking her up?" Yzak asks.

"I would think. If so, he'd have to be leaving soon 'cause she lives over in Seabrook," I sit down on the marble stairs, my chin in my hands.

"No wonder she's so messed up. Probably lives next to the power plant," Dearka snickers.

"So _that's_ why she's so mutated! Too much exposure to radiation!" Yzak declares.

"C'mon then! If we miss him leaving, then we'll be stuck driving around the whole city!" Lacus yells, jingling the keys to her Lexus in my face.

I lock the front door behind me and we race each other down the driveway to Lacus' car while she stumbles along behind us, muttering about her four-inch heels. I skid to a halt and grab the handle to the passenger side door.

"Ha! Beat you!" I yell.

"Move it, Zala, it's mine!" Yzak yells, jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow.

"If you idiots don't quit it you're all riding in the trunk!" Lacus snaps, unlocking the doors with the remote.

Quite scared, Yzak backs away and lets me have the front seat, then starts fighting with Dearka over the middle seat in the back.

"How do you put up with them, Athrun?" Lacus sighs as she pulls out of the driveway.

"You get used to it, don't worry," I say, looking through her CD cases.

"I see you bought your own copy of _Hot Fuss_ after you broke mine, huh?" I ask, wagging the light blue case at her.

"I'm sorry about that. Now's not the time to be fighting, though. We need to be worrying about Kira," she says.

I nod, gazing out at the dusky sky still streaked with hints of the sunset that barely peek over the tops of the pine trees. Kira . . . What does he see in her? Why is he doing this besides to prove me wrong? That can't be the only reason. He's not like that. There must be something more that he sees as a benefit from this date.

My gift for him is still lying on the floor of my room, where I left it when I got home last night. If he wants to be her boyfriend, what am I supposed to do with it? Keep it for myself? I have to think positively. He's not gonna be her boyfriend, 'cause he's in love with me. At least, that's what he said. How am I supposed to know that he's absolutely sure about his feelings? Dammit. Damn that bitch Flay to hell.

By the time we're parked in the parking garage downtown, I'm fuming for many reasons. Not only does Kira look delicious tonight, but he's dressed all yummy for _her_. He never looks this good when _we_ go anywhere: olive green cargo pants with iron cross patches on the pockets and a tank top over a T-shirt with black and green striped arm warmers. And, of course, his favorite black velvet choker is around his neck. I stomp up the sidewalk until Lacus tells me to stop walking so loudly, then I calm down and slink along in the semi-darkness, acting all shadowy.

"Where do you think he's taking her for dinner?" Nicol whispers to no one in particular.

"Maybe Sakura. He likes Japanese food," I respond.

"Yeah, but what does _she_ like?" Yzak asks.

"What do you mean? Hookers can't eat that much, or else they'll become fat chicks and they won't have anymore work," Dearka says.

I kick him in the shin as I walk past him, peering around the corner before going around it. Kira and Flay are at the other end of the sidewalk, heading down the hill towards . . .

"Holy! They're going to 43° North!" Yzak hisses, his eyes widening as the couple enters the restaurant.

It's a really expensive, high-end place, so that's why we're all in shock. My heart sinks when I realize I was never nice enough to take Kira there. We always used to make fun of the snobs who sat in there and ate their scrawny pieces of fillet mignons that cost 20 with caviar on the side. But now, as the five of us slouch across the street to the State Street Saloon, I kinda regret never treating him to something like he's doing for Flay. That undeserving little skank. She's gonna milk him for all he's worth, his cash, his kindness, and his virginity, then leave him.

We get a table by the window so we can watch for when they leave, sitting in awkward silence until the waitress comes with our menus. When she asks what we want for drinks, I take a fifty out of my pocket and tell her I'll give it to her if she'll bring me a martini. Lacus tells me not to drink since I'm underage, but I need something to help me get my mind off of Kira.

The waitress, to my surprise, accepts the cash and returns in a few minutes with everyone else's sodas along with my drink. Bwahahahaha. I down it in a few gulps, then order another along with my dinner.

"Athrun, you're gonna get smashed _so_ fast if you chug those like that," Yzak says.

"Ya wanna bet on how many he can drink before he throws up?" Dearka asks, leaning back in his chair.

"I think probably . . . Five," Lacus says, putting a ten dollar bill down on the table.

"Five? I'm goin' with seven!" Yzak yells, slapping a five onto Lacus' ten.

"Oh? Well I bet on three!" Dearka says, placing another five on the pile.

"Five dollars on four," Nicol says quietly.

"What! Nicol! You too?" I groan.

It really doesn't matter to me who wins or loses, I just wanna get the two of them out of my head, stop worrying about it. But five drinks later when I start to feel queasy and run into the bathroom, I'm still thinking about him.

When I shuffle back out to the table with the horrible taste of vomit still in my mouth, Lacus and Yzak are arguing about who won. I got sick after six if you weren't counting, so it's between the two of them.

"Why don't you each just take 12.50 and shut up?" Dearka snaps.

I mutter a "thank you" to Dearka as he hands them their money and I take a sip of ice water, trying to get that taste out of my mouth.

"You have any mints, Lacus?" I mutter, pushing my uneaten food aside so I can rest my head on the table.

"Yeah, here," she hands me a tin of Altoids and I shove a handful in my mouth, then give them back.

I take deep breaths, trying to settle my stomach while the others discuss things besides Kira, such as the Red Sox's winning streak.

"We're gonna kick some sorry Yankee ass later this month," Yzak says.

"Hn," I grunt in agreement.

"Glad to hear you're feeling better," Dearka says sarcastically.

"Feh, shut up," I groan, sitting up straight and staring out the window.

At that same moment, the door to 43° North opens and Flay walks out, followed by my beloved Kira. I watch her blood red lips move as she says something and he looks at the ground, blushing. I wonder what they talked about while they were eating? Not that they have any mutual interests. Flay doesn't seem like the type of girl who follows sports, and Kira, I know for a fact, doesn't like the things she does. "Hey, Kira, you ever been in a porno? I have," "t-that's wonderful, Flay . . .(sweat drop)." That's probably what she would say.

"C'mon, they're leaving!" I shout, dragging Lacus to her feet.

"But I have to pay!" she retorts.

"You stay here with Nicol and Yzak, Dearka and I will follow them, okay? We'll call you and give you the location!" I say from the doorway, my eyes darting back and forth from Lacus to Kira and Flay.

"Alright! Just don't get caught!" Nicol replies.

"We won't!" Dearka calls before the three of us take off in the direction the couple went in.

"Where do you think they're going?" Yzak asks.

I skid to a halt and duck into an alley, pulling Dearka and Yzak with me when Flay looks over her shoulder, glaring at the spot where I was just standing.

"Fuck, that was close," I whisper, peeking around the wall cautiously, my breathing quick.

"Gave me a heart attack, that damn girl," Dearka mutters, folding his arms and leaning against the brick.

"It's almost like she doesn't want anyone to see where they're going," Yzak comments.

"You don't think she's bringing him somewhere risky, do you?" I ask worriedly.

"Don't sound so scared. Wherever they're going, we're going too," Dearka grabs my wrist and yanks me back out into the open, whipping his head around in attempt to find them again. Thanks to his perfect vision, Yzak points them out among the crowds in the dim light, heading towards Prescott Park.

"Bit romantic, huh?" he asks as we push people aside, but remaining unseen.

I shoot him a venomous glare and slink into the park, avoiding the pools of light cast by the lampposts as I proceed along the brick path. I see the two of them, Kira and Flay, sitting on the stone wall separating the park from the rocks that lead down to the ocean. I sit down in the grass behind a lilac bush and Dearka and Yzak silently join me, watching with uneven breaths as I dial Lacus on my cell phone.

"Athrun, where are you?" she whispers.

"Prescott Park, just be careful when you come in so they won't turn around and see you," I reply nervously.

"Got it, be there soon," she says.

I take a deep breath, calming my racing heart, and peek through the branches to watch them. If there weren't so many people nearby, I'd be able to hear their conversation. Flay moves closer to Kira rubbing against his arm, her lips close to his ear. Lacus and I are the only ones that know his ears are his weakness, so he must be freaking out right now. I don't know why I never used that to my advantage before. How stupid am I?

Suddenly Lacus and Nicol are beside me, their eyes averted to the scene displayed through our screen of lavender petals. From my view, I can see the moon being covered by dark clouds, a flash of lightning on the horizon signaling another storm. Wonderful, this makes my already terrible night complete, I say to myself with a bitter smile as the raindrops begin to fall.

I watch Kira get to his feet and take Flay by the hand, trying to pull her from the stone wall, but she doesn't move. She wraps her arms around his neck and draws him close to her, their lips locked. My eyes widen when he places his hands on her waist, obviously accepting the embrace. My stomach churns again, feeling like I just downed ten martinis in a row, as she presses her body against his, her oversized breasts touching him.

I feel nauseous, seriously, "my gods, please . . ." I groan, clamping my hand over my mouth.

Lacus looks at me with helpless eyes that ask me what she could possibly do without getting caught. The other three can't tear their eyes away from what is unfolding before us, shock displayed on their faces. Dearka opens and closes his mouth, but he can't find anything to say. One of his comments probably would've been sort of comforting but seeing as how he can't speak, it makes me feel even worse.

I bite down hard on my bottom lip to stop myself from screaming his name as I collapse onto my back, staring up at the churning clouds. Why is he doing this if he knows how much I adore him?

From a parting in the leaves I can see a figure run towards them, then Kira pulls away and Flay turns to the other person. Her grey eyes flash dangerously in the illuminance of a lightning bolt as she approaches the figure, her fists clenched at her sides. I can't make out their voices over the crashing thunder, but it's obvious that they're yelling at each other. Kira backs away, but this other person steps towards him, and, to my horror, Kira is knocked to the ground by a punch to the face.

"I'm gonna kill that fucking bastard," I hiss, standing up on my weak legs.

"Athrun, you can't go! Do you want to be found out!" Yzak asks, dragging me back to my knees.

"What do you think is more important to me? His well-being or mine?" I snap.

A shriek of pain sends a cold bolt of fear through my body and with the next lightning flash, the white light hits metal, dripping with a liquid substance. Blood. Kira's blood. My breathing is harsh as I get to my feet, scowling with pure hatred at the two figures who watch as Kira writhes on the ground.

"Kira!" I scream, running across the wet grass to stand beside the guy the knife in his hand.

"You bastard! How could you do this!" I kick him in the ribs, sending him flying ten feet before he lands in the mud.

"Do you have a death wish, kid?" he asks, standing up slowly.

"Same to you! What do you think you're doing, picking on someone so much smaller than you! And _you_! You fucking _whore_!" I shout, whirling around to glare at Flay.

She takes a step back, but I snatch her slim wrist and twist it mercilessly, then throw her to the ground. I'm suddenly kicked in the middle of my back, making it so I'm unable to breathe for a few moments. Gasping for air, I force myself to get up, trembling violently. My eyes fall on Kira, who's still lying in the mud, whimpering in pain as he tries to move his leg.

"Kira . . ." I whisper.

"So, this your little boyfriend?" the guy asks mockingly.

"None of your business, asshole!" I snap, wincing as a sharp pain pierces my lungs. It's hard to breathe even now.

"Oh, so he is, huh? Little virgin boy, I can tell," he says with a wicked smirk, "I could change that whenever I want. You're in no state to fight me."

"Keep your filthy paws off of him. He's _mine_," I say. If I had the strength, I swear I'd strangle this guy, 'cause he deserves it.

"Fuck," I mutter, the pain growing worse with each breath. I fall to my knees, my hands over my ribs as I struggle to make it stop.

"Hey retard!" a voice yells.

Dearka and Yzak come running over to me, looking from Kira, to me, then at Flay and the guy.

"So, you think you can pick on our friends like that, huh?" Yzak asks, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah, I do, 'cause they're weak," the guy replies smugly.

"Shut up!" Dearka yells, punching him in the stomach.

"Now," Yzak says, drawing something out of his pocket and holding it up to the guy's neck, "you'll apologize for what you did, right?"

"Yes! Yes! Just don't kill me! You two are from the–"

"Ah ah ah, that's not supposed to be mentioned anymore," Dearka says.

There's a click and Flay's eyes widen when she sees what Yzak holds, the lightning making it clear to me as well: a shot gun.

"Say it," Yzak whispers, pushing the weapon closer to the man's neck.

"I'm sorry, okay? Happy?"

"Very." Dearka lets go of the collar of the man's shirt and lets him fall to the ground, Yzak slipping the gun back into his pocket.

"You alright, Athrun?" Dearka calls, looking over his shoulder at me. Nodding, I crawl across the wet ground to kneel next to Kira.

"Athrun . . . I should've listened to you," he whispers as I take his cold hand in mine.

"Shh, don't worry about it," I say gently as he rests his head in my lap.

"Lacus and Nicol went to go get the car," Yzak says quietly.

"Yeah, we'll go see if she's here yet." The two of them run to the entrance of the park, vanishing into the darkness.

"My leg . . . It hurts," I look down to see a deep gash above his right knee, the crimson blood that pours from the wound staining his pants and the ground.

"My gods . . .We have to bandage that _now_," I say. I stand up and offer him my hand, and he takes it, pulling himself up and leaning his full weight on me. I wrap my arms around him, holding him close, resting my chin on top of his head.

"Kira . . . I love you," I whisper as the others come running towards us.

"I love you too, Athrun! I'm so sorry for what I did!" he cries.

"It's okay, Kira. Don't cry, I'm here," I whisper, stroking his head as I try to calm him.

"Oh my God! That wound is horrible!" Lacus yelps.

"Should we bring him to the hospital?" Nicol asks.

"Do you think it's that serious?" I have a personal hatred for hospitals, but if it's for Kira, then I'll go.

"I'm not sure. It might get infected if we don't wash it, though," Nicol replies.

"Let's just go then!" Yzak yells. I nod, then softly ask Kira if he wants me to carry him.

"Yes! It hurts!" he wails.

"Shh, shh, it's gonna be fine, I promise," I set him onto the ground, then carefully lift him up, wary of his right leg.

"The hospital's not far, it shouldn't take too long to get there!" Lacus calls as she runs to the car.

"Don't you have a first aid kit lying around?" Dearka ask, rummaging through the glove compartment.

"Got it!" Nicol yells, bringing it to my side as I gently lay him down in the back seat.

I take out the roll of bandage and a bottle of antiseptic, flinching as he yelps when I apply the disinfectant to the wound. Then I wrap the bandage around his leg the best I can and rest it across my lap, telling Lacus we're ready to go to the hospital. Before we leave, she demands Yzak and Dearka are separated, so Yzak is in the third seat by himself while Nicol is in the front and Dearka squishes in next to me.

"Sorry the mission failed, Commander," Dearka says with a soft laugh.

"It's alright," I say, half to him and half to Kira, who starts whimpering again.

"What's wrong?" I ask, staring into his tear-filled eyes.

"It's just . . . I feel so bad about not listening to you and getting myself hurt like this! What are we gonna about the game tomorrow!" he cries.

"Kira, none of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself. We'll make it to the game, alright?" I whisper, brushing his wet hair away from his face.

"Promise?" he asks, wiping his eyes.

"Of course, promise," I say. I lean forward and pull him towards me, kissing him gently.

The fact that he responds more to my kiss than Flay's comforts me a little as he wraps his arms tightly around my neck. Dearka taps me on the shoulder and tells me not to be so horny, and that we're almost to the hospital. Of course, he gets a good punch to the face for his rude comment. Kira smiles weakly at me, his eyes still glistening with tears in the dimness, but they tell me that he really is sorry, and that he loves me.

"You two can't play in the game tomorrow because _why_!" Mr. La Flaga exclaims.

"Uh, hello !" Kira says, waving one of his crutches at the coach. (1)

"What's your excuse, Zala? And how'd you end up on crutches anyway?" he asks.

"Long story. And I don't have an excuse, I'll play," I sigh.

"I'll let you two off from your next class if you tell me," Mr. La Flaga says.

"Are you sure you're allowed to bribe students, coach? Isn't that blackmail?" Kira asks.

"Totally different thing, Kira-chan, just tell him so we don't have to take the English test!" I whisper.

He sighs heavily, sitting down in one of the comfy chairs in the teacher's lounge and proceeds in explaining last night's incident to Mr. La Flaga. When we got to the hospital, we had to wait for an hour before a doctor could see us, and by that time, Kira had lost so much blood that they had to keep him over night and put him on an IV. See, there's a major vein in the thigh, and that's exactly what got stabbed. Luckily, we have the same blood type, so they stuck a needle in my arm and then gave it to him.

Basically, I got no sleep last night because I sat by his hospital bed until Lacus _dragged _me out and drove me home. It killed me, knowing that he was all alone in that horrible place, so I tossed and turned and growled for three hours before I had to "wake up" for school. And over breakfast, I had to tell my parents where I was until three AM. That was a wonderful conversation: my dad found out about Kira and me, and he exploded. He went into a whole rant about how love is supposed to be between a man and a woman, all that homophobic parent shit. But my mom, being awesomely cool, interrupted and got me out of any trouble.

"So, you're back together again, huh?" Mr. La Flaga asks me. I look over at Kira, who nods in response and I do the same.

"That's cute. Just remember to use lube so you don't hurt him, Zala," Mr. La Flaga laughs, ruffling my hair.

"Wha-what? No! We haven't, we're not, I mean, we are, but–" I sputter, my face burning. Mr. La Flaga just laughs some more as he leaves the room; probably off to tell Murrue that the stars of his baseball team are getting it on. Not that we have . . . Yet.

TBC . . .

(1) - Crutches are a bitch, trust me (dislocated my kneecap).

**A/N: I will explain about the guy who attacked Kira in the next chapter!**


	6. Next Level of the Relationship

**A/N: This si the last chapter you get before I leave, sorry! Hope this lime makes up for lack of so far! And thanks for all your wonderful reviews. Especially you, Ichigo. It's called AU, you bitch, and I can include whatever the hell pop culture references I want, 'cause it's my story, so fuck off! Other than that, enjoy. **

**Chapter 6: Next Level of the Relationship**

Ever since that damn La Flaga made that comment, I can't seem to stop thinking about that topic whenever I look at Kira. I feel really uneasy around him now. Maybe I'm just becoming even more perverted, if that's possible; I didn't think it was. The fact that he's on crutches has somewhat pacified this growing curiosity towards what it will be like. Y'know, having sex . . . With Kira. My best friend. But I can't look at him as my best friend anymore, 'cause he's my boyfriend now, gotta remember that. Not that we can go on a date with him limping around like this. The doctor said he should be off the crutches in two weeks. He's gonna miss most of the remainder of the baseball season. Our baseball season , that is, not the Red Sox. But, if you count it two weeks from yesterday, then he'll be off of them for the game that evening against Tampa Bay.

As for tonight's Red Sox game against the Rangers, I'm still not sure what to do. Yzak and Dearka have been offering me blank checks all day, saying they'd give me a whole book of them for the two tickets. I told them I had plenty of money, but I'd think about giving them the tickets anyway. I can't help but wonder where the hell Yzak got that gun, and why that guy was so scared when he saw who they were. Probably none of my business, but then again, Kira's date with Flay was none of my business, and I spied on them, so there's no reason why I can't bug Yzak. Heh heh.

"So, have you decided yet?" Dearka asks, coming up beside me as I'm headed towards my (ugh) rental car.

My Z3 had to be sent to the dealer to be repainted, (they came and picked it up, actually. No way in hell would I drive it with all those inscriptions on it), so my dad rented me an SUV. Ugh, not a fan of SUVs. He says I should forget about my sports car and buy something with four-wheel drive, but I just told him to stay out of my decisions.

"No, so stop bugging me!" I say.

"But if we wanna get there with time to spare, we have to leave now!" Yzak exclaims.

"I don't care, Yzak," I sigh, slamming the car door in his face.

"Well you don't have to be such a bastard about it! You're just pissed 'cause you haven't done anything with Kira besides kiss," Dearka say. For some reason, he gets into the passenger seat.

"Get out of my car! And that's not why I'm mad!" I yell, trying to make myself stop blushing.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you so red then?" Yzak asks with a suspicious look in his eyes as he leans in the open window.

"Fine, that's what's bothering me. Happy now?" I snap.

"We kinda want the tickets, but . . ." Dearka shrugs.

"Here," I take them out of my wallet and shove them into his hand, "I hope they lose just so I can blame you for ending the winning streak."

"Thanks, we owe you!" Dearka yells, hopping out of the car and taking off across the asphalt.

"We'll talk to Kira for you about _that _topic," Yzak says mischievously.

"I'll do it myself, thank you," I growl.

Speaking of Kira . . . Oh crap. Where is he? Why didn't I notice that he wasn't with me? If I find out that Flay is harassing him again, I'll break her neck. I run back into the school, practically killing myself byslipping on the wet tile, and peek into the teachers lounge to find Murrue and Mu both talking to Kira. Well, this is suspicious . . . Or not. I guess I just like playing secret agent. They're only asking him if he's really going to be alright. They're already starting to sound like parents, and they're not even married.

"Oh, Athrun, I'm sorry for worrying you. Mr. La Flaga and Ms. Ramius were just wondering how long I have to use these crutches," Kira says, noticing me in the doorway.

"No problem. I wasn't worried," I say, completely lying; I was worried like hell, all because of that Flay.

She wasn't here today, (I was looking for her so I could beat the crap out of her like I couldn't last night), so I'm thinkin' that she got abducted by that weird guy. Or she's now so scared of me that she's never going to set foot in this school again. Either one would be fine by me.

"So, you two will be here tomorrow, right?" Mr. La Flaga asks.

"Yeah, I'm gonna come and watch," Kira replies.

"You mean cheer on your boyfriend," La Flaga snickers.

"Ahem!" Ms. Ramius stomps on his foot with her high heel, then looks at me with a smile.

"I wish you two the best," she says.

"Uhh, thanks . . ." Kira says, a slight flush on his face as he hops over to me.

"Are you coming to the game, Ms. Ramius?" I ask.

"Of course! So you can see me, right?" Mr. La Flaga says with a grin. Murrue promptly smacks him up the side of the head, then drags him out of the room by the arm.

"They make a good couple," Kira comments as we head down the hallway together.

"Yeah, but so do we," I say, winking at him. We go out to the parking lot in silence, all of the student's cars are gone and only the teachers' remain.

"Where are we gonna go tonight?" he asks as he settles into the back, his injured leg resting across the seat.

"What do you mean? You can't go anywhere on those stupid crutches," I reply.

"But I was hoping that you would take me on . . . A date," he says quietly.

"Of course I will, just not with you in this state. It's not that I don't want to, I'm just worried," I say in response to his disappointed expression as I pull out of the parking lot.

"I know, I know, it's just that, if I'm really your b-b-boyfriend, shouldn't we act like a couple?" he asks nervously. Wow, he's really been thinking about this, I thought Iit was just me.

"I guess since we've been just friends for so long that we don't know any other way to act," I glance at him in the rearview mirror, the wind whipping his shaggy hair.

"But we've always been really close. Remember those times when the random incredibly rude person asked us if we were together?" he points out.

"That was when we were younger, though. Lately, as in the past few years, we haven't been so clingy. Or else our classmates would label us and make fun of us."

He nods, a slight frown on his pouty lips, "but . . . I like being clingy," he says with a helpless look in his eyes. He probably doesn't realize how delicious he looks right now, saying things like that . . . It's enough to make a horny seventeen-year-old like me crazy.

"I do too, but now . . ." I scowl at his crutches.

"Who says we have to be like that in public, Athrun?"

My eyebrows shoot up at what he's suggesting. Guess my bad behavior is finally starting to effect him. Unless he really means it and he wants to . . .

"Are you saying that we should go back to my house, hide out in my room, and do stuff until we get caught?" I ask.

"Maybe, maybe not," he says with mock innocence.

"What happened to the angelic Kira?"

"He figured out, with the help of a certain coach, what his boyfriend really wants to do."

THAT LA FLAGA! HE IS SO DEAD! I'm gonna play horribly tomorrow just for payback!

"La Flaga again? Well, whatever he said isn't entirely true," I say, pulling the key from the ignition.

"What do you mean?" he asks when I open the car door for him. I help him hop out, then he hobbles inside behind me.

"I want to do all those things with you, Kira, but I . . . Really am in love with you, and I think that if we rush and just do it, it'll be wasted. Kinda stupid, since I'm such a perv," I admit somewhat hesitantly.

"No, it's not stupid. And to tell you the truth, that's what Mu, Murrue and I were talking about before you came in. We just changed the subject when we heard footsteps."

"About my topic or yours?" I ask. He leans his crutches against the wall by the stair case and sits down on the bottom step, sighing.

"Both," he says as I sit beside him.

"How both?" He needs to answer me in full sentences, dammit.

"We were discussing yours, then it segued into mine, thanks to La Flaga." Thank you, an explanation!

"Figures he'd be the one to make the transition." I laugh. "Did they talk about how things are going with them?"

"Not a word. I'm thinking they're trying to keep it a secret. Teacher-teacher relationships are risky, or so I've heard." He gives a small shrug, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I don't think anyone's home. You wanna go upstairs?" I ask. I blush once I realize what that sounded like.

"You pervert," he whispers, smiling.

"You're the one who brought it up," I retort, "not that I'm complaining . . ." I add with a grin.

"Just to make you happy . . . Athrun, will you take me to your room?" he asks. Even though he's only joking, he sounds really sexy.

"Mmm . . . With pleasure," I whisper, brushing my lips against his neck.

He sighs and tilts his head back, his actions telling me to go right ahead, but I have other ideas. He doesn't realize what I'm doing until I actually do it: I press his back to the railing, my body against his, and slowly run my tongue along the edge of his ear. He whimpers helplessly, completely submitting himself to me.

"Yes . . ." he sighs as I start to suckle on his earlobe.

"Mmm, Athrun, please . . . You know how weak that makes me . . ." he groans. When he begins to pant, the rise and fall of his chest quick, I decide that I've done what I need to.

"Now . . . About going to my room . . ." I purr with another playful lick.

"Yes! Just, ohh, don't stop," he sighs.

Perfect, just what I want. I get to my feet and gently lift him up, his arms tight around my neck. I've never seen him look this hot before, his lips slightly parted, his cheeks flushed and eyes fully closed. And the best part is that I'm the only one that's ever seen him in his submissive state. I go up the stairs, skipping every other one, until I get to my room. I push the door open with my foot and set him down on the bed, a whine coming from him at the loss of my touch.

"Shh, I'm coming," I say as I close and lock the door, "you're so impatient," I laugh softly as I sit down next to him. He looks at me with his wide, glittering purple eyes, pleading.

"How far do you want to go, Kira?" I ask, touching his face gently.

"Truthfully, I want all the way, but I know we aren't going to," he replies.

"How 'bout we see how far we get before someone finds us, hm?"

"I don't care as long as it involves, you, me and things our parent's don't want us doing.

I smirk at his proposition, "that's pretty much everything."

I get on my hands and knees with him underneath me, our eyes locked, but suddenly he looks away and his cheeks flush.

"Don't position yourself like that, you're making me think about . . ."

"About this?" I lie down on top of him and grind my hips against his, producing very pleasurable friction between our bodies.

He groans, tossing his head back, "yes, that!" he cries, "do it again!"

I do as he says, this time harder and slower, a moan escaping my throat to accompany his.

"Hah hah, Athrunnn . . ." he pants.

"I think this need to go," I whisper, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. I untuck it from his pants once it's unbuttoned and pull it off his arms, throwing the clothing on the floor.

"But what about–"

"That's for after," I say, tugging at the waist of his pants, "I know what you want me to do."

I run my hand over the obvious bulge beneath the fabric and he sighs, waiting. I sit back on my heels in order to unbutton my own shirt, but he sits up and does it for me instead, running his fingers across the exposed skin once he's finished. He rests his head on my chest, breathing heavily against my skin, then his tongue darts out of his mouth and barely touches me. Becoming more brave, he runs his tongue over my nipple, and even though I bite my lip, I can't keep in the moan. When he realizes how much I like it, he starts to suck on the hard nub.

"Kira . . ." I groan, not bothering to try and hide the fact that what he's doing is turning me on even more. He moves over to the other one, giving it the same treatment and getting the same result. I buck my hips, pressing my erection against his abs and he lifts his head, his face bright watermelon pink.

"Does yours hurt too?" I pant. He nods and I push him back onto the bed, studying him before slowly unzipping his pants and carefully removing them, making sure I haven't irritated the wound on his thigh.

"Your leg feel okay?" I ask.

"Mmm-hmm," he replies, squirming impatiently.

I lean over and brush my lips against his, provoking an annoyed noise form him, then I kiss him slowly, eventually pushing my tongue into his hot, wet mouth. His tongue touches mine as he arches his back, pushing his hips up against mine. In response, I grind down, groaning lustily and he mutters something under his breath. When I grind again, he repeats what he said, but louder.

"Fuck!" he hisses, clutching my bare shoulders tightly. It's not often that he swears, so he must really like this.

"Athrun, please, I need release . . ." he begs.

"I noticed," I laugh quietly.

"Please, it hurts!" he cries.

"Shh, I'll do it," I slip my hand down to his crotch, touching him through the fabric of his boxers until the longing is too much. I force them off his hips and he lets out a sigh of relief as I throw them aside.

"Oh, Kira . . ." I sigh as I stare at his naked body. I unzip my pants and take them off, looking into his eyes.

"Athrun, you're not going to . . ." he begins.

"No, I'm not going any farther than this," I say as I run my fingers down his very hard cock to the wet tip.

He whimpers, thrusting his hips up and forcing himself into my hand. I start to touch him like I do to myself and he groans as I pump harder.

"Faster . . ." he gasps. I willingly obey, and I can tell by his panting that he's almost there.

"Athrun, I . . ."

"Go right ahead."

"Ohh, Athrun!" he screams. The warm, sticky seed rushes out of the throbbing head and his breaths slowly even, both of us calming ourselves.

"My gods, Athrun . . ." he whispers.

"Was that good enough for you?" I ask, grinning as I move to sit beside him.

"Of course. It's never felt that good before," he replies. When I notice my hand is dripping, I run my tongue along my fingers, licking them clean.

"Mmm, tastes good," I purr, glancing at him. He watches helplessly as I wipe the rest of the liquid off my stomach and quickly lap it up.

"Athrun, you're a pervert," he whispers.

"I know, but you love me anyway, don't you?" I say, winking.

"Yes, I love you. What kind of stupid question is that?" he asks.

"I don't know. I love you, too."

"Athrun?"

"Yeah, mom?" I ask that evening, leaning over the railing to look down at her in the entryway.

"If you and Kira are planning on doing anything else tonight, I suggest you keep it down. Your father will strangle you if he finds out what you two have been up to," she replies.

"What? I, we, we haven't been–"

"Then what other reason do you have for Kira wailing your name like that earlier?" she retorts.

"Okay, so we had a little fun. What's wrong with that?" I say defensively.

"Fun, hmm? How far have you gone?"

"Wha! We haven't done _that_ yet!" I shout, blushing.

"When you do, just make sure your father's not here," she says before disappearing down the hall. I sigh heavily and go into my work room where Kira is lying on the couch, watching the Red Sox game on the plasma screen.

"Sorry we couldn't go," I say softly, sitting down next to him.

"I should be saying that. I'm the only reason why we're not there," he says.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Yzak and Dearka are having a good time." He yawns in response and rests his head against my back.

"Why don't we sit like this? Move up a bit," I instruct. He scooches forward a little so I can sit behind him, my legs apart and his back to my chest.

"Much better," he says, smiling as he snuggles closer to me.

I wrap my arms around his waist and glance up at the screen; damn commercials. There's a sudden knock on the door and my dad pushes it open, visibly flinching when he sees our position; he's such a stiff.

"Your cousin is here to see you," he says and Lacus pushes past him into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, Lacus, what's up?" I ask.

"It's Flay! You'll never believe what happened!" she yells.

"And we should care because . . .?" She's the last person I wanna talk about right now.

"That guy that attacked Kira? He kidnapped her! People say they saw her in a strip club in the worst part of town, being forced to dance!"

"I'm not surprised."

"Wait! There's more! That guy was on old boyfriend of hers, and he's eight years older than her! Twenty four! And on top of that my sources say that one of her shows involved her kissing other naked girls!"

Me and Kira - O.O

"That was my reaction, too. So she's been kidnapped, molested, and exhibitioned," Lacus says, counting the things on her fingers as she paces the room.

"How do you know all this?" Kira asks, still in shock.

"That's a secret. But anyway! This guy she dated was a criminal already, involved in drug dealing, so he's gonna be in jail for longer now because of this."

"So the police are looking for them?" I ask.

"Yeah, and Flay could be punished too for . . . Hold on." She reaches into the cargo pocket on the side of her strapless denim dress, fishing out an index card.

"'Previous sexual crimes, such as propositioning and rape'" she reads, then shoves the card back in her pocket and buttons it closed.

"Rape! See, I told you!" I shout.

"I was her next target, wasn't I?" Kira asks quietly, staring at the floor.

All of us are silent, the only noise coming from the TV. I tighten my grip around his waist and hold him closer.

"I don't wanna think about what might've happened to you, Kira," I whisper.

"I don't either. Athrun, I was so scared he was going to kill me and I'd never be able to see you again," he says with a sniffle, his eyes filling with tears. Lacus kneels on the floor in front of us and takes Kira's hand in both of hers.

"I was worried for your safety as well, Kira. You're very important to me," she says.

"Too bad he doesn't wanna date ya," I snicker.

"Hey! Be quiet! Your mom told me you tow were, hmm, how should I put this? Doing some X-rated stuff earlier?" she asks, her eyebrows raised.

"You _pervert_! We were not! I wish we had been, but we weren't!" I shout, a fist clenched at her.

"Oh, so you _do_ want to?"

"Have sex with your delicious ex-boyfriend? Hell yeah," I reply devilishly.

"Yeah, Lacus, it's gonna be sooo erotic," Kira says teasingly. We exchange glances, smirking, and watch as she fidgets uncomfortably.

"I take it you top, Athrun?" she finally asks.

"Yep, Kira's the submissive one," I say with a playful nip at his ear.

"Sure, go for my weakness in front of your cousin! Jeez, how horny can you be?" he says, folding his arms.

"Well, you two have fun tonight! Just remember to use lubri–" her sentence is cut off when I throw a pillow at her face.

"We already know. La Flaga told us that," I say, looking away from her and Kira.

"I'm glad to hear that he supports your relationship. And I do too, just don't talk about the explicit stuff in front of me. I think the cuddling and holding hands is cute, though." Great, now she thinks it's cute. How much more do I need to be embarrassed today before my quota is met?

Apparently a bit more, because just after eleven, while Kira and I are watching the post-game show, Cagalli bursts into the room, wearing her Best Buy uniform, (heh, her job), and drops a shopping bad into her brother's lap.

"From mom," she says before slamming the door behind her.

"What is it?" I ask, looking over his shoulder to see the items: a package of condoms, a tube of lubricant, and an anime DVD called Gravitation.

"You think our moms have a bet on how long before we do it?" he asks, tossing the two former things on the floor and unwrapping the DVD.

"Yep, definitely. What's this show? Hmm . . ." I say as I read the back of the case.

"Sounds kinda good. Wanna watch it?" he asks.

"Sure. I think you should dye your hair pink like that," I laugh.

"Not even for you, Athrun, sorry," he replies.

"Ohh, but you would look so kawaii. Please?" I whine as I put the disc in the DVD player.

"I'll think about it," he says.

"Your mom didn't buy this for us, it was Cagalli," I say, sitting down with him again.

"I know, she just didn't want to admit it."

"Your mom wouldn't pick an anime. She'd buy something dumb."

"Some sappy romance movie."

After agreeing on that, we stop talking and watch the show. By the end of the short hour and fifteen minutes, I'm humming the theme song and Kira demands that I but the second one for us to watch together. I gotta thank Cagalli too for picking an anime as good as this, with guys kissing other guys and cool Japanese music. I doubt she'll admit that she chose it, but at least I'm thanking her, even though she doesn't deserve it after what she did. But there's no need to be pissed off, 'cause I'm content with how things are right now.

TBC . . .

**A/N: Don't worry, it'll be a working vacation, so I'll have plenty to type when I come back:)**


	7. Memories and Shock

**A/N: I'm home! It's great to be back to all the snow looks out at blizzard Good times. I promise I'll get to all of your requests, if they fit into the story, and since everyone seems to want me to . . . I gotta pick a hair color. Hehe, enjoy! **

**Chapter Seven: Memories and Shock **

"It's been a week, y'know, Kira," I comment, glancing over my shoulder to look at him as he sits on my bed.

"Since what?" he asks, tipping his head to one side cutely. I sigh, shaking my head as I tuck my jersey into my baseball pants.

"Your neck, those pictures, how could you forget!" I reply.

"Only a week? It feels like so much longer, because of everything that's happened, good and bad," he looks up at me when he finishes wrapping his wound.

"It has been pretty extreme. The bad was really bad, the good was really good," I say with a smirk.

"Really good? What might have that been?" he asks innocently.

"Oh, so you didn't like what we did yesterday? Your body told me otherwise," I whisper, leaning over the headboard of the bed, my face close to his.

"I was kidding, of course I liked it," he says, linking his arms around my neck.

"You wanna do that again soon?" I ask mischievously.

I nip gently at his neck, my hands on his waist, and he presses his body against mine, sighing softly.

"Not now," I laugh.

"Why not?" he whines.

"Because I have a game to play, and if we're late, La Flaga will know what we were up to."

"He already thinks we're having sex, not to mention the fact that our moms are encouraging it," he says.

"Waving the AxK flags," I kiss him lightly at the corner of his mouth, teasing him, as he moves his head, trying to make our lips meet.

"Stop moving like that," I whisper.

"Why don't you?" he hisses. I turn his head to the side so I can slowly, temptingly, start to suck on his earlobe.

"Athrun!" he gasps.

His hands slip down to my shoulder blades, massaging my back in circular motions. Hmm, massage, might wanna remember that. I shift so that I'm straddling him, sitting up on my knees and he tosses his head back, groaning, as I continue my attack on his weakness.

"Athrun . . . Shouldn't we . . . Be leaving?" he pants.

"You don't want to," I breathe, sliding my hand down to his crotch.

"Mmm . . .Yeah," he says, his voice husky.

"Easily excitable, aren't we?" I whisper between kisses down his jaw.

"You think I can't feel yours against my abs?" I capture his lips in a forceful kiss as a response, pushing my tongue into his mouth.

"Athrun, don't you have a baseball game to get to?" an irritated voice asks from behind me. I reluctantly pull away from Kira and look over my shoulder to see my dad standing in the doorway, glaring at us.

"How do you know I wasn't planning on skipping the game and staying here in _bed_ with Kira?" I ask, grinding my hips against Kira's abs suggestively. I glance at him as he struggles to stifle a moan, biting his lip hard.

"Because you're in your uniform. Now cut it out and let's go!" my dad yells.

"Feh," I mutter, getting off the bed and grabbing my equipment bag from the corner, (don't ask me why it's in my room). I wait until my dad goes downstairs to turn back to Kira, who gazes at me with huge, pleading eyes, rubbing his inner thigh, waiting.

"Gods, Kira, how can you be so sexy and innocent at once?" I ask as I close the door, making sure it's locked before returning to his side.

"Lie on your back. I know how you want to do it," I instruct. He does as I say, raising his arms above his head and taking one wrist in the other hand.

"Do you have any idea what that makes me think of?" I ask, lying down on top of him.

"You pervert," he says. I merely smirk as I grind down, the image of him tied up still in my head.

"Yes, Athrun, ahh!" he cries, bucking his hips up with my next push down.

"Kira . . ." I groan. I wish we weren't being rushed, or I might be enjoying this more. When I hear my mother pacing around downstairs, I start going faster, causing so much pleasure that it's all I can do not to scream.

"Fuck! Athrun!" he wails, forcing his hips up once more as he finishes.

"Kira!" I yell, tossing my head back as I do the same. Our panting eventually stops, my head resting on his chest as it rises and falls, and I look up at him smiling.

"I thought you said you had a game to play?" he asks quietly.

"You're more fun," I say as I sit up, then I realize that I'm wearing my baseball pants.

"Oh shit!" I hiss. I spend the next few minutes running around my room, looking for the extra pair while Kira laughs at my stupidity.

"It's your fault for being so damn hot," I snap, quickly changing into clean boxers and the other pair of pants.

I can tell he stared at me while I was changing, but it doesn't nearly make up for all the ogling I've done. He changes as well with more indecent staring, then I run downstairs and out to my dads car, Kira following on his crutches.

"You two look awfully red. Are you okay?" my mom asks as I sit down on the edge of the back seat, holding Kira's crutches for him while he gets comfortable.

"No, we're fine, it's just, uh, hot out, that's all," I reply with a fake innocent smile.

Am I a good liar or what? I don't think either of them believed me. But I don't have to be worrying about that, because I know I have more embarrassment to face when I get to the field.

"You're late because _why_!" La Flaga yells when I slink into the dugout. I missed the warm up before the game and arrive just before we start batting.

"Kira and I got kinda side-tracked . . ." I mutter, staring at the dirt, my face burning. I try to hide under the brim of my cap, but La Flaga pulls it off my head and glares at me.

"What were you up to now?" he asks. I can hear Yzak and Dearka snickering nearby as I try to find something to say.

"We were . . .We were . . .Uhm, can we talk about this later? Like, somewhere far away from other people?" I ask hopefully.

"If you wanna sit on the bench the whole game, then sure," he replies.

"Fine! We were . . . Doing . . . Some things in my room," I mumble.

"Oh? What kind of things? Playing video games?" he asks with a wicked smirk.

"You know what I'm talking about! Things I don't want my parents to know about!" I hiss.

"Like . . .?" Sometimes I wonder if he was put on this earth to torture and humiliate me.

"Yeah, Athrun, like what?" Yzak asks.

"None of your fucking business! We weren't doing anything! I'm going to bat!" I yell, grabbing my bat and helmet from my bag.

"Not until you tell me," La Flaga says.

"It was just some kissing, okay? Happy?"

"Not really. I know that's a lie, but go hit anyway."

Thanks to him, that's all anyone asks me for the rest of the game when we're sitting in the dugout Being nagged about your sexual activities pisses you off really fast, believe me. Nicol doesn't mention it, 'cause he's nice, unlike Yzak and Dearka, who talk about it every other minute. Damn them. No way are they getting any more Red Sox tickets from me. Last night's game was slow, the Sox winning by a score of 2-0. Kira and I had more fun staying home anyway.

Unknown to the two of us, my parents spent the whole game talking to Kira's parents about our relationship. Yeah, bad times. We find out this is what they discussed from Lacus, who said one of her "sources" overheard part of the conversation. I bet she has this whole school bugged, that's how she knows all the gossip.

"So what exactly were they saying?" I ask as the three of us loiter near the bleachers after the game is over.

"Ahem, I have it all typed up right here, if you would like to see," she brandishes a piece of paper at me and I snatch it away, Kira peering over my shoulder as I read it.

"'Do you have any idea what our sons have up to over the past few days?'" I say, pretending to be my dad.

"'I think it's sweet that they love each other so much,'" Kira says in an impression of his mother.

"'I fully approve of their relationship,'" I say as my mom.

"'How can you two say that? They're both boys!'" Kira says as his dad.

"'What about what happened the other night? If Athrun hadn't cared enough about your son then he probably would've been killed!'" I say, still my mom.

"'Exactly! That girl he was on the date with was a horrible person! Would you two rather have them be with women like that, who you can't trust, or each other!'" Kira says as his mom now.

"Wow, our mothers are wicked cool," I say.

"We should buy them a present or something for sticking up for us," Kira says, nodding in agreement to my statement.

That reminds me of the choker I bought for him on Wednesday, which has been under my bed since then. I was in such a bad mood before my secret mission that I just kinda shoved it under there and forgot about it until now. I'm gonna have to give it to him soon, but I want it to be kinda, y'know, romantic, I guess. Not like, "hey, I got this for you," more of a, "Kira, will you be my boyfriend?" present. I'll have to figure it out later, when my parent's aren't interrupting me with stupid questions like they are now.

"So, we've planned to go out to dinner with the Yamatos tonight," my mom says. My ears prick up at the mention of his last name and I lean into the front seat, demanding all the details.

"Is it random or are we celebrating something?" I ask.

"Don't act so suspicious. I just thought it would be nice if we all went to dinner together," my mom replies.

"Where? What time? How nice is it?"

"We're driving down to Boston, going somewhere in the North End, so fairly nice," she says.

Ah, Boston, only the best city in the whole world. Boston, fancy restaurant, with Kira . . . And my parents. Rawr. I need to go with just him sometime; another thing to do when his leg is healed. Augh, not to mention that Cagalli is coming as well.

How am I supposed to eat with her around? She'll glare at me and throw silverware at my head or something, maybe an appetizer plate. In other words, it'll be a _wonderful _evening, I'm sure. The only thing wonderful about it will be when Kira and I sneak off somewhere, like to Fenway, and leave Cagalli with our parents. Bwahaha. Good plan, but not very likely that it'll happen.

"Athrun! We're leaving! You better be dressed appropriately!" my dad yells up the stairs.

Feh, like I'll listen to what he says. I'll dress however the hell I want to, meaning baggy pants with my stud belt and a Taking Back Sunday T-shirt under my leather jacket and my favorite black Chuck T's. I go downstairs to find that my parents are already in the car, which means by the time they see my outfit, it'll be too late for me to go back inside. They're so impatient.

"So, where exactly are we going?" I ask as I get into the back seat with my Walkman and CD fold in my hand; my parents listen to the worst music.

"We haven't decided yet," my mom answers.

"What? But it's Saturday! It'll be so busy down there!" I exclaim.

"No need to yell, don't worry about it," she says.

We'll end up somewhere crappy, I know it. With my bad luck, we probably won't eat at all, but maybe I'm just being pessimistic. I pick a CD for the hour-long car ride into the city and start sulking and ignoring my parents. Sure, they were the ones that set this up, but our dads are also the ones who don't approve of my relationship with Kira. What our moms said is true: would they rather have us be with slutty women or each other? I think that my dad would prefer the former, I'm not kidding.

He's always been against anything I liked that was out of the ordinary, music and TV shows, and liking Kira is definitely odd to him. But I think we've always been a lot closer than regular friends, ever since we were really young. What Kira mentioned yesterday about people asking us if we were a couple is true. I remember once we were at the movies when we were about fourteen, seeing something scary that I talked Kira into going to. I told him it wasn't that bad, but we both ended up with nightmares. Anyway, Kira got so scared during it that he curled up close to me and made me hold his hand. Then some bitch behind us told us to shut up and get a room. This just prompted me to be even more obnoxious and cuddle more with Kira.

I guess we've always been pretty affectionate towards each other, more than normal guy friends are. I go over all the instances in my head when we did couple-ish things before this past week. Hmm . . . There was that time last year when we both got really drunk at someone's party, then Yzak dared me to make out with Kira. I was so smashed that I didn't even remember I did it until a day later. Cagalli was pissed, to put it lightly. Actually, she didn't talk to me for a whole week after that incident she was so mad/humiliated.

So that kiss last week wasn't our first after all. I run my fingers over my lips and stare at the cars as they pass, focusing on a patch of blue sky beyond the stores on the side of the road. I don't know why Kira couldn't come in my car; I wouldn't be this bored if he had, hehehe . . . Not that we can do anything with my parents in the front seat.

I bet Cagalli is nagging him about one stupid topic or another, or they're arguing. There's never peace in the Yamato house, as I've learned the hard way. I've had to break up quite a few fights between the twins, and it wasn't fun. I got punched in the nose "accidentally" by Cagalli over the summer. I don't think I ever really loved her, I was just trying to convince myself that I did so I wouldn't have to admit that I love Kira.

But everything is different now, I tell myself as I hop out of the car onto the sidewalk. Up the sidewalk a little, Mrs. Yamato is helping Kira out of the car and Cagalli is scowling at him, like it's his fault that he got stabbed by Flay's ex. Bitches. I wonder for a moment if Cagalli has a new boyfriend, but I highly doubt it. I go over to stand with Kira, ignoring Cagalli's Death Glare and smile at him.

"What was the argument du jour?" I ask.

"Nothing, my parents kept her quiet," he replies.

"We're not going to dinner yet, are we? It's only five thirty," I say to no one in particular.

"They're gonna fight about where we eat, so the extra time will be killed easy. Plus, I'm sure you two won't be bored, will you?" is Cagalli's snappish response.

"I wasn't talking to you," I retort, turning away from her.

She snarls something under her breath that I can't really hear, but I'm sure it was rude and mean. While our dads start talking about something stupid and father-y, (probably grousing about how close together Kira and I are walking), our mothers join us.

"Thanks for what you did earlier," I say quietly.

"Hm? How did you find out about that?" my mom asks.

"Lacus," we reply in unison.

"Oh, well don't worry about your father. He's just being a stiff," my mom says.

"Mom!" I gasp. Kira snickers and him mom glares at him accusingly.

"I fully trust the both of you in your relationship," she says to me.

"Thanks," I say. Cagalli slinks along behind us, grumbling as she listens to the conversation. She's obviously not supportive of us. Feh, she can go to hell. Who cares about her anyway?

"Ooh! Are we going to Modern Pastry?" I ask excitedly, referring to my favorite Italian pastry shop.

There's another larger one up the street, but they're not nearly as good. I run the rest of the way to the little shop, throwing the door open and getting in line. To my surprise, it's not very busy today, which is lucky for me. Kira is suddenly at my side, looking around at the sweets on the shelves and in the refrigerated cases.

"What are you getting?" he asks.

"Two cannolis and a piece of chocolate mousse cake. You?" I reply.

"I dunno. Augh, I swear if I have to spend any more time with my dad or sister I'll kill someone," he growls, hopping forward on his crutches as the line moves up.

"Now, now, Kira, violence isn't the answer," I laugh.

"Even violence against my sister?" he asks hopefully.

"Well, I guess that's okay, as long as you don't murder any innocents," I say as I step up to the counter.

I order my pastries while Kira decides what to get, ending up with two chocolate chip cannolis and a fruit tart for his mom. We leave the shop and I take a deep breath of the Boston air, smiling, then realize that we're alone, meaning our parents are gone. As in they _left us behind_. What wonderful, caring families, ne?

Now we have to look for them, and I'm sure Kira really, _really _wants to hop around the crowded alleys of the North End to do so. We don't come here often enough to have a certain place to look, so I guess we just have to wander. I tell this to Kira and he nods, sighing heavily; I can tell he's trying not to complain about his crutches, because every time he leans forward on them, he winces.

"I'm sorry we have to do this," I say softly as we cross the street.

"I'm okay, don't worry," he says weakly, giving me a fake smile.

"Stop, I hate when you do that and you know it. Now c'mere, no more crutches!" I grab them from him, being careful of the pastry boxes, and quickly catch him with my other arm, wrapping it around his shoulders and pulling him close. I feel his fingers shyly touch my waist, then his hand settles over my hipbone as he starts to limp.

"This is better," he says with a small smile at me.

"But people are staring. Doesn't it bug you?" It personally doesn't bother me, but he worries about what others think of him. I need to break that habit of his.

"They can put their head in a bear trap if they have a problem with us being a couple," he says. I laugh when he scowls at the next person who looks at us strangely.

"I can't believe we lost this afternoon," I say angrily.

"So much for our winning streak," he mutters, grabbing at something around his neck. He rubs the little Sox charm that dangles from a thin gold chain as it glints in the sun.

"You stop by the park?" I ask.

"Yeah, this was the last one. I stole it from Cagalli," he says, grinning.

"Hey you two! You think you can get all cuddly just because you get lost for fifteen minutes!"

Well speak of the devil. She runs around the corner, her boots thumping on the cement and glares at us. She approves of our relationship like I approve of Yankees fans in Fenway Park, or Boston in general. She stomps over to us, shoots me a poisonous glance, and snatches the crutches from me.

"Why are you doing that? It's easier this way!" I snap, grabbing the ends.

We both start pulling on them, Kira leaning against a parking meter and watching as we play tug of war. With one good yank, Cagalli loses her grip and falls hard on the pavement, looking up at me in shock and disgust. I grin smugly at her before turning to our parents who stand nearby.

"Here, Kira doesn't need these," I say, shoving the bothersome objects at Kira's dad, then I give my mom the boxes from the pastry shop.

His dad grumbles, but doesn't verbally protest, as I wrap my arm around Kira's waist. I smirk evilly at my dad as I slip my hand into the back pocket of Kira's jeans, stroking his ass through the fabric with my thumb.

"Athrun!" he hisses, more out of embarrassment than irritation. We are, after all, walking around a big city with our families and I'm being all clingy in public, but it's his own fault for being so desirable.

So my mom finally leads us into a restaurant just as my stomach starts to growl quite loudly. It took her long enough to choose somewhere. The waitress seats us at a table by the window, until I request a separate table for two. Bwaha, leaving Cagalli-bitch with the 'rents! I tell the waitress I'll give her a twenty if she'll put us at the other end of the restaurant and she eagerly agrees. That's one of the only good things about being rich: getting other people to do stuff for you with your cash.

"Cagalli's glaring at us," Kira whispers across the table.

"I'd be worried if she wasn't," I reply casually, leaning back in my chair.

Who really cares what she thinks, or anyone else for that matter? Certainly not me, and with a few lessons from me, Kira will be that way, too. Ever since we were younger, he was always concerned about what our classmates said about him. I felt bad that he was so insecure, and that was when I started threatening the kids who made fun of him. Ah, good times, when I could beat someone up and not be called meaner. Things really do get worse as you get older.

I glance over at Kira, who smiles at me when he looks up from stirring the sugar into his iced tea. Then again, if I wasn't seventeen and I had this obsession with him, I'd have no idea what to do, so maybe things aren't so bad.

I stretch my free arm above my head, yawning, while my other arm is around Kira's waist again. We rushed through dinner so now we can walk around by ourselves for awhile. In other words, I can have Kira all to myself . . . Or so I thought.

"Funny meeting you here!" a voice calls and I cringe when I recognize it.

"Hi, Mr. La Flaga," I say with facade of joy. I'm gonna have him arrested for stalking me, I swear!

"Are you two on a date?" he asks, smirking.

"Sadly, no. Our parents are here with us," Kira sighs.

"What're you doing by yourself? Did Murrue dump ya already?" I snicker.

"I could get you detention for that, Zala! If you have to know, I'm waiting for her."

"Where is she?" I ask.

"Where is who?" I look over my shoulder and Ms. Ramius is standing on the corner, her hands in the pockets of her skirt.

"Never mind. Isn't it cute that they're on a date, Rue-chan?" La Flaga asks teasingly.

"We're not on a date!" I yell.

"Don't call me Rue-chan," Ms. Ramius snaps as La Flaga draws her close to him.

"Oh, c'mon, it's cute, please?" he whines.

"Just ignore him," I say.

"I do, don't worry," she says.

"Not when we go to my apartment and–"she clamps her hand over his mouth, a bright flush on her face.

"You two are doing that already!" Kira exclaims, his eyes wide.

Various images appear in my head, the thought of my _teachers_ doing those kinds of things together making me sick. La Flaga grins once Murrue moves her hand and she fidgets uncomfortably beside him, then shakes off the embarrassment. She winds her arms tight around La Flaga's neck, glancing over her shoulder at us.

"To tell you the truth, yes," she says.

"No more teasing us then, 'cause we haven't done anything yet!" I yell.

"Yet?" La Flaga asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what'd you think? I'm gonna let him stay a virgin?" I scoff.

"I'd eventually make you do it, Athy-chan," Kira whispers. Athy-chan?

"Since when do I have a new nickname?" I ask.

"I just thought of it. Now let's go before our parents find us!" he says, pulling on my arm.

"A bit rebellious, are we?" La Flaga laughs.

"If you're gonna date your best friend, then you kinda have to be," I say as we follow Mu and Murrue down the sidewalk.

Now that I think about it, it's weird to be talking to my teachers about things like this, and so is spending time with them out of school. But they're my favorite teachers anyway, and definitely the nicest.

"Same with dating another teacher," Mu says, glancing at Murrue.

"Does anyone know about you two?" I ask curiously.

"Only you guys, so you better keep it a secret, got it?" Mu says sternly.

"You blabbed about our relationship," I retort.

"Plus, how can you keep it a total secret when you're having sex in your apartment? The neighbors must hear you," Kira says.

I laugh as Mu and Murrue both glare at him briefly as we turn a corner down an alley. I notice a flash of bright pink in the shadows, shifting and blowing in the wind. What the hell, who has hair like . . . My eyes widen as we draw closer and I realize who it must be. My gaze falls on her face, tears and bruises on her pale skin and her grey eyes stare up at me, begging, then narrow into slits.

"Athrun," she hisses.

"Flay!" Kira shouts.

TBC . . .

**A/N: BWAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER AGAIN!**


	8. Plans

**A/N: I'm sorry this one took me so long! Please don't give up on me, my faithful readers and reviewers! I promise I will complete this fic, no matter what! I'll stay til 1:30 every night if I have to! (Has nothing better to do). **

**Sakuraloveu - I'm making the assumption, based on his name (Yamato), that Kira is Japanese on his father's side, so he might've picked up on a little from his relatives, and taught it to Athrun. That's the best explanation I can think of! Translations needed? **

**PLEASE ENJOY AND KEEP UP THE AWESOME REVIEWS: ) **

**Chapter Eight: Plans**

My mind reels at the shock of meeting her, of all people, in the biggest city in the North East. She just _had_ to be here, in this alley, didn't she? To further my emotional torture and the destruction of my relationship with Kira.

"Flay, what happened?" Murrue asks demandingly.

"He-he took me away and hurt me and forced me to–" she begins.

"Forced you to rape more guys like you were going to do to Kira?" I ask coldly. Awkward silence falls over us, my threatening look never wavering, then she speaks.

"Yes, that was what I was going to do, but only because I like you Kira," she replies, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Oh, so rape is now a way of showing affection for someone!" I yell.

"No, I meant that–"

"That's exactly what you meant! Now crawl back to your little whore-hole before I call the cops on you. I never wanna see you near my Kira again!" She gets to her bare, blistered feet, giving Mu and Murrue a hopeful, questioning look with her teary eyes.

"I have to agree with the kid," Mu says, and Murrue nods and says,"Ms. Clyne told us everything."

Flay's dim eyes widen in horror at Murrueas she stumbles backwards, further into the darkness, the shadows obscuring her face.

"That Lacus . . ." she mutters, "I'll have her killed! And you too, Athrun! This is all your fault!" she screams.

She disappears into the blackness, the sound of her sobbing slowly dying away, leaving me with a feeling of nausea in my stomach. My fault? What did I do? Why is she blaming me? I have no idea what she's talking about. It's _my_ fault that I fell in love with Kira? You can't exactly choose who your true love is going to be, not that I believe in true love. If I did, though, I'd have to say that Kira is mine.

Yeah, I know I sound high thinking things as sappy as this, but that's how he makes me feel. Kind of high, like everything around me has a surreal quality to it, like I'm dreaming. But I always fall back to reality, thanks to one interruption or another, making me realize that not everything is perfect like I want it to be. My interaction with Flay just brought me back, and thanks to her, it'll be a while before my dream world returns.

Neither of us tell our parents about what happened in the alley. I remain totally silent the whole ride home, and Kira definitely won't say anything. His parents would flip out if they knew he saw her again. And mine would as well. I mean, saying she'd have me and Lacus _killed_? Talk about psychotic. I don't even know what either of us did, so what's her problem? I bet she's pissed at me because I'm Kira's boyfriend . . . Sort of. I haven't really asked him yet.

Staring up at the ceiling of my dark bedroom, I ponder this, trying to decide when and how to ask him. I mean, we've already done, erm, _stuff_ together, so I guess I should talk to him about it soon. I roll over onto my stomach and glare at the headboard, as if it's the bed's fault that I'm worrying so much. I can already tell I'm not gonna get much sleep.

By the time I decide to go downstairs the next morning, I almost have it worked out. I went through a ton of ideas last night, and now I've narrowed it down to a few. Okay, more like four, but still, it's better than having ten or twelve like I did earlier.

My mom watches me pace around the sitting room in my pajamas, puzzled by my odd behavior. Even my dad takes notice of my worried expression, then he tells me I better not be thinking about "that boy." That's what he calls Kira now. He has this new hatred of Kira, like he did something wrong. If he wants to be mad at one of us, it should be me, 'cause I started this whole thing.

"Athrun, what's this box?" my dad asks, picking up my gift for Kira from the coffee table.

"Nothing! Don't touch it!" I yell, running over and snatching it from him,holding it to my chest protectively.

"Better not be a present for that Yamato boy," he says sternly.

"Feh, what if it is? What're you gonna do about it?" I retort, sticking my tongue out at him.

"I'll take it away from you and sell it back to wherever you got it," he replies coldly.

"No! It's for Kira!" I snap.

"So it is then? Give it to me."

"No! Leave me alone! I need to give it to him when I ask him if . . ." I stop myself before I can blurt out my plan.

"Ask him if what?" he asks.

"If he wants to be my boyfriend, okay!" I shout, backing away from him.

"You won't be doing that anytime soon, young man."

"And why not? I love him dad! Get it through your head that your son wants to be with another boy!" Ignoring my yelling and teary eyes, he tears the package from my grasp and disappears down the hall.

"Give it back!" I shout, pulling on his arm in a desperate attempt to retrieve it from him.

He turns around and gives me a dark scowl before going up the stairs to his wing of the house. I slump to the marble floor, my legs refusing to hold up the weight of my body any longer. How could I let this happen? Now what do I do?

"Fuck!" I cry, pulling at my hair as the tears stream from my eyes.

"Athrun . . ." my mom says quietly, kneeling beside me.

"You're married to him, can't you do something about this?"

"Your father is very stubborn when it comes to changing his opinions on things, and that applies to your relationship with Kira," she says.

"What relationship? I was going to give that to him when I asked him if . . . Shit! Shit shit shit! What do I do now? That was the only one!"

"What was it?"

"A choker. Black leather with a red jade heart," I reply quietly.

I smile slightly at the thought of how cute he would've looked wearing it. My mind goes back to that day when he got the note from Flay, reminding me of when we followed them . . . That's it! I jump up, a new plan brewing in my head, and run upstairs, leaving my mom extremely confused at the foot of the staircase.

"Yeah, Yzak? I have another mission," I say into my cell phone a few moments later.

"I'm here, too! What is it?" Dearka says in the background.

"In a nutshell, I got a present for Kira, my dad took it, and now I need to get it back," I say.

"I'm in! Let's do it!" Yzak yells.

"You inviting anyone else?" Dearka asks.

"Probably not Lacus. She'll say I should get something nicer," I roll my eyes when I think of the elaborate things she'd suggest. "But Nicol will come with us. Dearka, you wanna bring your girlfriend?" I ask with a grin.

"They broke up," Yzak says.

"Have a little sympathy, okay? Her parents didn't like me!" Dearka yells.

"And I should be surprised because why?" I ask.

"Shut up, Zala! You're not exactly having a perfect romance either!" he retorts.

"Don't remind me," I sigh.

"So when's the mission? Tonight?" Yzak asks.

"Probably this afternoon, I think. He was really pissed, so he probably wants to get rid of it as soon as he can," I reply.

"Fifteen hundred hours then?"

"Sounds good. You call Nicol and tell him, okay?"

"Got it!"

"I feel like I'm in the military with all these missions," Nicol says as the four of us sit around in my work room, waiting for my dad to leave.

"This is only our second, and it's just as important," Dearka says.

"How are we supposed to follow him if it's broad daylight?" Yzak asks.

"Good question . . . Change of plans! We leave now and wait for him in the jewelry shop," I say.

"Whatever you say, commander," Dearka laughs.

I grab the keys to my rental car off the desk and we sneak down the stairs, past my mom, and out to the driveway. Since Nicol and I are used to the continuous Dearka-Yzak fighting, we let them have the back seat to themselves and their yelling. If Lacus, ever the peacemaker, were here, she'd be trying to make them stop, but I don't really care. It actually makes me feel more comfortable knowing that they're not worried about this like I am. What if my dad says I can't see Kira anymore? Pfft, like what he says can stop me and my seventeen-year-old sex drive.

After parking on the other side of town so my dad won't recognize the car, we make our way along the busy sidewalks to the jewelry shop on the corner.

"How long are we gonna wait before we give up?" Dearka asks boredly after only five minutes of loitering outside.

"Shut up! You're so goddamn impatient!" Yzak snarls.

"Like _you're_ a fan of standing around doing nothing," Dearka retorts.

"They fight like a married couple, don't they?" I ask Nicol.

"Exactly like one," he answers.

"WE DO NOT ACT LIKE WE'RE MARRIED!" they both yell, turning to us viciously. It's not a good idea to provoke them like this, but it amuses me and any innocent bystanders.

"Then why do you _always_ fight? You must get bored sometimes," Nicol says.

"C'mon, you can tell me if you guys have something going on, I know how it is," I snicker, nudging Yzak with my elbow.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" he shouts.

"There's nothing going on with us, you pervert. That's disgusting," Dearka says, slightly calmer now.

"Sure, whatever you say," I say with a shrug. Like I'm gonna believe that. It's called sexual tension, I should know. Nicol grabs the ranting Yzak by the arm and drags him into the shop, leaving me with Dearka, who's still fuming.

"Miriallia didn't dump you, did she?" I ask quietly. I watch as he frowns and kicks at the cement as a distraction from looking at me.

"Not exactly. What I said earlier about her parents is true. They said I looked like a trouble-maker, which is true also," he snickers a little before continuing, "but she said she was really fond of me anyway. But I didn't feel the same, so I broke it off."

"You like Yzak, don't you?" I wait in silence for a few moments, then he finally mutters, "fuck, how the hell did you figure it out?"

"Instinct," I answer.

"It's not like I even make it obvious. I just go along with the arguing because he's cute when he's angry."

"You gonna tell him?"

"Who're you kidding? Of course not! Now quit joking, I can see your dad coming." he pulls me inside and to the back of the store where Yzak and Nicol are standing.

Well, actually, Yzak is sulking and Dearka joins him in doing so. I don't know why they're in such a snit, it was only one comment. Dearka is probably on edge because of the conversation we just had, and Yzak always acts pissed off.

The door to the shop opens and my father goes up to the counter . . .Empty-handed. What's he trying to pull, ruining my plan like this! Dammit! I bet he already sold it and he's still trying to get his money back here. What a slacker. I watch suspiciously out of the corner of my eye, not that I can hear what he's saying. He's mumbling like someone might be listening to . . . Wait, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. He'd strangle me if he knew I was stalking him.

He pulls something out of the pocket of his jacket and the cashier gives him two twenties and a five in exchange.

"Stop! I need that," I snap, running over and snatching the choker, still wrapped in paper, from the woman.

"You're the young man who bought this the other day," she says.

"Yeah, I am. Now re-wrap it _extra_ nice," I demand. I glance over at my dad, who's in utter shock that I'm here.

"Who's this for?" she asks as she places the gift in a new box.

"The boy I'm in love with. I'm gonna ask him if he wants to be my boyfriend," I reply with a smirk at my dad as I rest my back against the counter.

"Here you are. Good luck," she says, handing the present to me. I take the bills from my dad, hand them back to the woman, then motion for Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol to follow me as I leave the shop, my dad still standing there. Mission accomplished, ne?

I'm sitting in my room, plotting, while I do my homework, until I remember that I have tomorrow off; gotta love these random, pointless American holidays. I throw my school books aside and lie back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling fan and contemplating next Friday. That's the day I'm planning the date for, since it's the day after Kira's off his crutches.

I've got it down to two ideas: a cruise in Portsmouth harbor or a night in Boston. I'm leaning towards the former, because we'll be in Boston on Thursday to see the Sox. Or we could just go out to dinner in Portsmouth then go to the beach. Or I could cook for him and we could stay home. All good ideas, but more wasn't exactly what I want at the moment. Anything relating to Boston is eliminated besides the game, and the cruise thing isn't as good because we won't be alone. But we always eat downtown, not that there's anywhere else to go. Everything at the mall is a chain, and there isn't anywhere else with a lot of restaurants.

I begin to get impatient after fighting with myself so long, then decide to forget next Friday - we're going out this week, even if it means he's still on crutches. Tomorrow is too short notice, even though we have no school, baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday, leaving me with Wednesday and Friday. Hmmph, I'll figure it out when I'm not so exhausted. Who knew getting a date was this draining.

I shuffle downstairs at noon the next day, my pajamas and hair a mess, to find my mom and Kira standing in the kitchen, chatting pleasantly. I stare blankly for a moment, then realize how lazy I must look getting up this late, not to mention sloppy.

"Good morning, Athy, glad to see you're up," Kira says cheerfully.

"Um . . . Hi." So much for figuring things out today.

"You don't mind if I go shower, do you?" I ask. He smiles and shakes his head in response.

"You can sit in my room or something, as long as my dad doesn't see you." My mom then reminds me that it's noon and he's at work, making me look even stupider. The two of us go up the stairs, leaving his crutches leaning against the railing at the bottom.

"If you need anything, just yell, okay?" I say as he makes himself comfortable in my work room.

"Alright. Though I would like it if . . . I could shower with you," he looks up at me, his innocent eyes twinkling with mischief.

"I would too, but I want you to rest," I say, running my hand down his injured leg.

"I know," he sighs.

"Losing your patience?" I ask with a smirk.

"I'm not as tame as Cagalli when it comes to my sex drive, Athrun," he replies.

"She's tame? I can't wait to see you at your worst then," I say, leaning over so I can nip at his ear.

"Same to you," he whispers.

I leave him with a light kiss on the lips and go to get my clothes, still wondering why he's here in the first place. He's been at my house so often lately that I think it'd be fine with both of us if he moved in here. Then we'd have the dad/mom wing and the Athrun/Kira wing. Only in my daydreams will be ever share the same bed every night, especially with my dad on the warpath about me and "that boy." I don't know why he's so pissed, we just had a little fun, and he knows about even less of it.

When I return to the work room, I decide that it's time to ask him. I sit down next to him on one of the floor pillows, drawing him close and he nuzzles my neck, sighing softly against my skin.

"Now that I'm fully awake, there's something I need to ask you," I say, stroking his head.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you were busy on Friday night." He lifts his head, his eyes wide as he stares up at me.

"Are you . . . Asking me out?" he asks hesitantly.

"If I am?" I reply slyly.

"Then yes. Gods, yes, Athrun!" he exclaims, wrapping his arms around my neck and clinging to me tightly.

"I knew you'd say that," I whisper.

"What're we doing?" he asks excitedly.

"It's a secret," I say with a smile.

"You're so evil. I bet you're planning to kick your parents out, then we can have the house to ourselves to . . ." he grins at me, a suggestive twinkle in his eyes.

"And I thought _I_ was the pervert," I say.

"We both are, and that means between us we'll have even better ideas."

"Ideas, huh? Sounds fun," I purr, running my tongue across his pouty lips.

"It will be, especially for you," he sighs as I nibble at his neck.

"I'll make sure it pleases you, too, Kira-chan," I whisper. Damn, I'm enjoying Friday night already and it's only Monday.

I can already tell by lunch the next day that this is going to be the longest week of my life. Every class is extremely tedious, feeling like they drag on so much longer than they should. The only good part about the morning is that the classes are so easy that I can think about Friday, while staring at Kira in half of them.

After getting yelled at by my history teacher for not paying attention in class, I quickly go up to the roof, finding the whole group already gathered there. I make note of how close Dearka is sitting to Yzak and that the hand he's leaning back on his practically brushing the silver-haired boy's ass. Smirking, I sit down next to Kira and Lacus, stealing a cream puff from my cousin and shoving it on my mouth.

"You could've asked, you pig!" she yells, hitting me over the head with her huge notebook.

"What's that for?" Nicol asks, referring to the object she just attacked me with.

"The reports from my sources are all in here," she replies, running her finger along the top and bending back the papers that stick out.

"Can I read them?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.

"NO!" she shouts, followed by another whack.

"If I get a concussion it's your fault," I say, rubbing the spot where she hit me. Kira pulls me close to him and kisses the sore spot on my head, then smiles kindly at me.

"Aww, how cute," a poisonously sarcastic voice calls.

The door swings open and Cagalli steps onto the roof, the wind slamming the door behind her. The gusts toss her golden locks in her face, and she tucks the stray strands behind her ear as she approaches us.

"What do _you_ want?" I snap. Without an answer, she shoves me into Lacus' lap and sits down between Kira and I.

"What the hell?" I snarl, sitting up straight and scowling at her.

"Am I not allowed to eat lunch with my little brother?" she asks.

"Not when you act like such a bitch!" I reply harshly.

"Athrun, live with it," Dearka says, his eyes asking me to cooperate for once.

"Fine," I grab my lunch and move to sit on Kira's other side, wrapping my arm around his shoulders, leaning close to him and suckling his earlobe possessively. Cagalli's amber eyes narrow into angry slits while everyone else stares in surprise at my display of affection.

"Athrun . . ." Kira sighs, "no fair!"

"Of course it's fair," I whisper as I lift my head.

"Athrun, you bastard, leave him alone!" Cagalli shouts viciously, yanking Kira towards her.

"He's _my _boyfriend. Plus, he likes when I do that, don't you?" I ask.

"Hell yeah," he whispers.

"Is not your boyfriend! You haven't even gone on a date yet, so there!"

"We are on Friday, so shut your mouth, you bitch! I don't see you with a new boyfriend, or are you not interested in men after what I did to you?" I ask slyly.

"What the - God, I'm gonna strangle you!" she lunges at me, falling over Kira into my lap.

"You don't really hate me," I whisper.

"I do too!" she shrieks, locking her hands around my neck.

"Then kill me. If you really hate me, you'll do it," I say, knowing that I've won.

"Fuck you!" she screams, standing up and kicking my shoulder hard with her heavy boots before running off down the stairs.

Everyone is silent, including me; I'm shocked that she didn't do it. I really thought she would, or at least come close to doing so. I clutch my shoulder, realizing that she still must have some sort of non-spiteful feelings for me. It's just like her to hide her emotions, besides anger, from the world. Now that she knows about our date later this week, I know that things aren't going to go along as smoothly as I'd hoped.


	9. The Date, Part 1

**A/N: sorry this took me so long to post, but I reestablished some semblance of a social life over the weekend, then went into total otaku mode when the new G-SEED DVDs came out on Tuesday, so you can imagine how hyper and in non-working mode I was. I'm sorry about the wait, and I hope it was worth it! Thanks again! **

**Chapter Nine: The Date, Part 1**

"What did you do to your hair!" I exclaim. Kira stands in the doorway to my room, a small smile on his lips.

"You like it?" he asks.

"You look adorable," I reply. He fingers one of the shaggy locks, now tipped with the same deep violet as his impossibly big eyes.

"My parents are gonna kill me," he says, not sounding the least bit worried.

"Your mom will think it's cute and your dad will like it, too. He's not a _stiff_ like _some people_," I say, referring to my dad just in case he's within earshot.

"Cagalli's waiting outside so I should go," he says quietly, turning away from me.

"She can leave by herself. Tell her you're staying here," I say, taking his crutches form him as I yank him into my room.

"But Athrun, she'll be so pissed off . . ."

"So? She can be if she wants, and she usually is. You're staying with me," I say sternly.

"But it's a school night . . ." he begins.

"Since when has that ever stopped me? You sound like you don't wanna stay."

"No! I do, I'm just worried." His eyes dart away from mine, then when he finally looks at me again, I ask, "about what we'll do?"

He nods, blushing, "I know I said I want to go all the way but I'm kind of . . . Scared," he admits, the nervousness evident in his face.

"Gods, you're so . . ." I whisper, burying my face in his hair.

"Stupid?" he asks.

"No, unbelievably kawaii," I answer.

I tilt his chin upwards, staring into his eyes that flutter closed, telling me that it's okay to kiss him. I gladly take the opportunity and press my lips to his, the caress gentle and somewhat apprehensive.

"You _are _nervous," I whisper, pulling away from him.

"Just a little, he says, hesitance in his voice.

"A little? You're shaking," I say suspiciously, taking his trembling hand in mine.

"What is it? You can tell me, Kira."

"I told you my crappy reason already," he says bitterly, snatching his hand from mine.

"It's not crappy, it's just your natural reaction," I say, trying to make him feel better.

"But it's not like there's anything to react to. We're not doing anything," he says; I wonder if he's trying to be difficult.

"Do you _want_ to be doing something?" He's silent, his lips curved into a small frown, his gaze averted from mine.

"Yes, I want us to be doing something! All that stuff we did before felt so right! Athrun, I want you to take me now!" he cries, wrapping his arms around me and clings to me, his tears sliding over my skin.

"Kira, I thought you were scared?" I whisper.

"I am, but . . . I want you to make love to me." He lifts his head and looks up at me with his teary eyes, begging.

"Why'd you call it that?" I ask.

"Because there's a difference. Sex is what you had with Cagalli, because you didn't love her," he answers. I become uneasy at the mention of her, thinking about what happened earlier today. I wipe the tears from his eyes, trying to ignore the churning feeling in my stomach, but I can't.

"Sit, I'll be right back," I say. He limps over to the bed and waits as I yell down to my mom to tell Cagalli to leave, in choice words of course.

"I couldn't stand it, knowing she's out there waiting for you to leave when you're not," I explain, sitting down next to him.

"I'm not," he mutters, as if reassuring himself of it.

"But I don't have my uniform," he says.

"Don't worry about it. What we were discussing . . . What you said is true. I won't call it sex anymore, and if I do, you'll know it's just from habit."

He smiles and rests his head on my shoulder, "I knew you would understand," he whispers, his eyes closing again.

"You can't sleep yet!" I whine.

"I'm not sleeping," he says, then yawns and stretches.

"Why are you so tired?" I ask, puzzled, as he slumps against me.

"I was up reading stuff online," he says.

"About what?"

"How to do it if you're both guys," he replies quietly.

"There's no need for you to study, I'm the one on top, remember?" I point out.

"I still wanted to know. I felt like I had to."

"Wouldn't a surprise have been more fun?" I say, grinning.

"Not when it comes to this, no."

"Tell me how to do it then," I say deviously.

"W-well you're on top of me and you have to . . . Have to . . . I can't say it," he says, burying his face in his hands. I laugh for a moment at how embarrassed he is, then pat him on the head and tell him not to worry about explaining.

"I know very well how to do it," I whisper.

"You probably read up on this weeks ago." I fake an innocent smile and lie back on the bed, pulling the blankets over me. Kira takes off his jeans and sweatshirt, then crawls into bed with me, being cautious of his leg.

"Feh," I mutter, realizing the light is still on.

The moment before I flip the switch, I notice a shadow slinking down the staircase and into the dark entry hall. It's too small to be my mom or dad - Cagalli. I close and lock the door before curling up under the covers again, pulling Kira close to me. I scowl into the blackness, the silence unbroken except for our quiet breathing. I clench my fists in the sheets and try to relax, but I can't get over the fact that Cagalli is now aware of exactly what we're planning on doing.

"My gods, she heard. I'm gonna kill her," I mumble. Unknown to me, Kira is awake to hear me say this.

"Athrun! Wake _up_!" my mom yells, banging on the door to my room. I poke my head out from under the covers, grunting in disappointment; she doesn't know I haven't exactly been sleeping for the past ten minutes. Kira throws the blankets off and sits up, the flush on his face slowly fading and his breaths evening out. I smirk at how flustered he got by just a little kissing and licking, wondering how my mom didn't hear his lusty groans.

"Guess we have to go, huh?" I ask quietly.

"Whatever you say," he says, still in a bit of a daze. I get out of bed and open the door to see my very miffed mother standing there, fist poised in the air to continue knocking.

"That took you long enough! You better hurry up or you're gonna be late," she snaps. Her glare turns into a smile when she sees Kira sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Good morning, Kira. I hope Athrun treated you well last night," she says.

"W-well! What do you mean by that!" I shout, the heat rising to my face.

She merely winks at me and goes down the stairs, leaving me to figure out what to do about school. We need two uniforms, I have one, and unless he wants his parents to find he spent the night with me, it's gonna stay that way. No uniform get you detention, and it'll be my fault if Kira has to go to that hell hole. My ideas always get us into some kind of trouble.

I start searching my closet, then my drawers in a desperate attempt to find something for him to wear.

"Kira, would you mind wearing . . . This?" I ask, pulling three pieces of clothing out of one of the drawers.

"Is that . . . The _girls_ uniform?" he says, staring at the plaid skirt, sweater vest and short-sleeved blouse.

"Yeah, must be your sister's. Will you wear it?"

"If I have to," he grumbles. Not only did I get to share my bed with him, but I have him in a skirt! Well, I will after . . .

"Wait, you can't take a shower, right?" I ask, gathering the clothes in my arms.

"I can stand up, but it hurts really badly after a few minutes," he answers.

"You can lean on me then," I pull on his arm, but he doesn't get up.

"You're not gonna try anything, are you?" he asks. Anticipation and slight fear shine in his eyes as he gazes up at me.

"Not unless you want me to," I whisper in response.

"If we didn't have school . . ." he sighs.

"Screw school. Let's stay in bed all day, Kira-chan," I say mischievously.

"Athrun!" he yells, tugging on my hair.

"Ow! Ow, okay, I'm sorry, I'll go to school! Owwww!" I cry as he drags me down the hallway by a lock of hair.

"Shit, you didn't have to pull so hard," I mutter, rubbing my head.

"You wouldn't have cooperated otherwise," he says with a shrug. Still sulking, I turn on the water in the shower and get some towels while it warms. I look over at him as I take off my shirt, watching his cheeks color.

"Kira, c'mon," I plead. He limps over to me and shifts his weight onto his good leg while he quickly pulls his shirt over his head. I kick aside my underwear and watch as he fidgets in front of me.

"Your turn," I say.

"Nothing more than what we've already done, okay?" he asks nervously, his fingers hooked in the waistband of his boxers.

"Yeah, don't worry," I say. His face reddens, his eyes squeezed shut, as the article of clothing falls around his ankles.

"You're so damn cute, Kira. There's no need to blush like that," I laugh softly. My smile fades when my eyes settle upon the bandage around his thigh, spots of fresh blood on the fabric.

"Are you supposed to take that off?" I ask. He nods and starts unraveling it, slowly revealing the wound to me. The red liquid dribbles from the crooked gash, staining his pale skin and our eyes meet when we both look up from it.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"For what? It's my fault for being so stupid as to trust her," he says.

"No, it wasn't stupid. You're a kind person, Kira, and that's one of the reasons why I love you." He smiles slightly and wipes his tears with the back of his hand.

"No time for crying, we're gonna be late," I say, lightly tugging at his wrist. Once I close the glass door behind me, he quickly starts scrubbing his hair, trying not to look over at me while I do the same.

"Stare all you want," I say, ringing the shampoo out of my hair.

"Huh?" he asks, blinking in a confused manner.

"I've done my fair share of ogling, if you didn't know already," I explain.

"You're more obvious than you think, Athrun," he says with a laugh.

"Your leg starting to hurt?" I ask as he leans against the tile wall.

"Yeah, a lot," he replies, wincing in pain as I carefully wrap my arms around him. He sighs with relief as he rests his weight against me, the feeling of his wet skin on mine sending a jolt of pleasure through my body. He shudders as he moves slightly, something brushing my thigh.

"Glad I'm not the only one who likes this," I whisper with a smirk. He sighs at the presence of my lips so near to his weakness, but I let go of him, remembering we have to go to school. I hurriedly wash, then turn to Kira, who notices as I look him up and down.

"I can do it myself, just grab a washcloth for my cut," he says, taking the soap from me. I open the door so I can lean out and snatch a cloth off the side of the bath tub, then hand it to him.

"Thanks," he says, patting away the blood.

"You can go get dressed if you want," he glances at me suspiciously as the suds rinse off his body.

"I think I like watching you," I say, tilting my head to one side as he bends over to pick up the cloth from the floor.

"Go get dressed, you perv!" he yells, pushing me out onto the bath mat. Sulking, I do as he told me to, brushing my hair before pulling it back into a ponytail. The water shuts off and Kira comes to stand beside me, a towel wrapped around his slim waist.

"Want me to get the bandages?" I ask.

"That'd be great," he answers.

I rummage through the cabinets while he dresses and when I look up again with the roll of bandage in my hand, he's pulling the sweater vest over his head, the trim of the skirt falling just to his knees.

"Excuse me, miss, I believe these are for you," I snicker.

"Shut up! This was your idea," he snaps, folding his arms and glaring at me.

"Yeah, and a brilliant one at that," I say proudly. He sits down on the edge of the tub and pulls up his skirt so I can wrap his wound.

"Do you think it's getting any better?" I ask as I wind the fabric around and around.

"It hasn't even been a week yet, so I can't really say." We're both silent until we go downstairs and, (after I make sure my dad has already left), into the kitchen.

"K-kira! Are you planning on having a gender change surgery done!" my mom exclaims. Leave it to her to take everything to it's extreme.

"No, mom, he just doesn't have any other uniform to wear," I reply, grabbing a muffin off the counter; we're going to be late anyway, even with all that rushing.

"Don't let the other boys pick on you, Kira," my mom calls as we go into the entryway.

"I won't," I say, leaning on his crutches while he ties his sneakers.

"I can't believe you're wearing Chucks with a skirt," I sigh, giving him his crutches before going outside.

"When I put them on I wasn't expecting to be wearing this skimpy thing," he says angrily.

"Skimpy? It could be worse. Plus, your ass looks good in plaid." He yelps when I smack him on the ass before darting around to the other side of the car, avoiding his payback, but it'd be worth it.

"You're gonna pay for this, Athrun!" Kira snarls as the year book committee (all girls) takes their last picture of him. Something tells me they're not for any year book though.

"Please tell me how you got him to wear that so I can do the same to Yzak," Dearka whispers.

"Nope, gotta figure it out for yourself. Not that he even likes you back," I say mockingly.

"Shut it, bastard! He does too!" he yells.

"Who does what? Athrun looks guilty for Kira's humiliation?" Yzak asks, joining us on the grass of the quad.

"Am not!" I retort.

"Never knew you had a cross dressing fetish, Athrun," Dearka says.

"I do not!" I yell, blushing, partially from the fact that some of my classmates heard his comment.

This has been going on for a while now, sitting around and doing nothing; our French class got cancelled because our teacher quit today and they didn't have time to find a replacement. Damn, slacking off is so much fun. Kira hops over to us, dropping his crutches in my lap and scowling at me.

"Do you know how horrible all those girls are?" he whines, collapsing next to me.

"From personal experience, no," Yzak replies. Dearka glances at me, a mischievous grin on his lips, probably thinking, "with your help, he'll know soon."

"Don't you have homework to be doing?" I ask Dearka in response, holding up my physics text book as an example.

"Hmm . . . No," he answers, undoing the first few buttons of his shirt before lying down on his back. I make note that Yzak stares at the area of exposed skin for a moment before looking away. How interesting. Maybe I'll help Dearka with his request after all, just to amuse myself with the result.

"Dearka," I whisper, lying down on my stomach next to him.

"Hm? What? I was gonna take a map," he complains.

"I'll help you get together with Yzak, but only if you do something for me in return," I answer.

"What now?"

"Make sure Cagalli doesn't tail us on our date the day after tomorrow."

"That's it? Too easy," he scoffs.

"You wanna deal with her if she catches you? Have fun," I say. He thinks for a moment, imagining the scenario, probably involving getting chased by the demon spawn blonde, then says, "the pain will be worth it if it means you'll really help."

"You like him a lot, huh?" I ask.

"You could put it that way, yeah," he replies, looking away from me.

"Whatcha talkin' about?" Yzak asks, lying on his side next to Dearka. I notice him blush at this sudden closeness and sits up, his gaze averted to me so Yzak doesn't see him blushing.

"N-nothing, we weren't talking about anything," he lies.

"Sure, like I'm gonna believe that for a minute. If you were saying bad things about me I'll rip your head off!" A violent one, that Joule kid.

"I was just complimenting you and now you threaten me! Sometimes I wonder why . . ." he starts grumbling to himself, arms folded across his chest.

"Why what?"

"None of your business! You're so nosy!" With that, he gets to his feet and storms off, leaving Yzak staring after him, utterly confused.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" he asks me.

"Maybe, maybe not. Why should it matter what Dearka thinks of you if you hate him this much?" I answer, rolling over onto my back to look up at the sky.

"I don't hate him! He's just so difficult sometimes," he sighs.

"Then what do you feel towards him?" I'm so sneaky.

"If you have to know . . . I'm in love with him," he mutters, "but it doesn't matter because it's unrequited."

"How do you know that?"

"Because he's always talking about girls and thinking about girls and looking at magazines full of them! Why would he have any interest in me! I'm a _guy_, if you haven't noticed!"

"What if I told you he liked you just as much?"

"Then I'd kill you for lying to me about something so important! I'm not that stupid!" he yells. I glance over at Kira, who is watching this whole scene with great interest.

"What if Kira told you then?" I ask.

"What? Wait, I have no idea what's going on!" Kira exclaims as Yzak turns to him, his glare murderous.

"Then I'll kill you both!"

"But it's true," I say calmly.

"Is not! Then why hasn't he told me himself?"

"He doesn't want to be rejected. But I'll help you get together with him if you do something for my," I say slyly, scheming in my head.

"Sure, what?"

"Keep Cagalli from following us on our date," I say, grinning.

"I'll do it! If it means Dearka will . . . I'm ready for that bitch! She won't get within a mile of you!" he shouts, determination glinting in his eyes.

"Good. Just be in Portsmouth at seven-thirty Friday," I say.

"Where exactly?"

"Market Square," I reply. I'll tell Dearka to be in the same place, at the same time. I could be Cupid any day if it's this easy to get people together.

When I arrive at school Friday morning and glance at the clock on the wall of Murrue's classroom, one thing runs through my mind: twelve hours from now, I'll be picking up Kira for our date. No fucking way am I this lucky. I must be dreaming. Not only that, but I've got Dearka and Yzak stalking Cagalli, making sure she doesn't screw everything up.

So we're going to dinner, then the beach then, (hopefully), back to my house. But if my dad's home, then I can forget trying to have any fun, unless I can get my walls sound proofed in less than a day. Maybe if I call now, they can get it done. Doubt it. If I hire a crew, all they'd do is wreck my room, like a certain someone, take nine coffee breaks, get nothing done, and play Ranchero music really loud.

All morning I'm hyper and excited, but by the beginning of afternoon period, I start to get nervous, asking myself all kinds of useless "what if" questions ad nauseam. Lacus notices my anomalous behavior and asks if I'm okay, and of course I lie and tell her yes. She'd laugh her pink-haired head off if she knew I was worrying about something I planned.

Kira, on the other hand, is as bouncy as he can be on crutches, eagerly answering when he's asked a question and humming randomly when we're not in class. Some people ask him if he's gone insane, and he just replies with a simple "no," then continues drawing hearts in his notebook. If I knew it'd make him this happy, I would've asked him a long time ago. If it was before last week, when we told each other how we felt, it'd be a joke, all casual, and we'd pretend to be a couple just to laugh at people's reactions. Now that I think about it, we actually did that a few times.

I take a deep breath, calming myself, and Kira looks over at me, smiling, as if saying, "everything will be fine. You're so sweet to worry about me." The warm breeze ruffles his already disheveled hair, pale pink cherry blossom petals blowing in the open window. Birdee swoops in and lands on his shoulder, chirping as it hops around like it has ADHD.

"My. Yamato, would you mind telling your pet to leave?" the Spanish teacher snaps. We have to sit in this class because they still haven't found a new French teacher.

"Go on, Birdee, I'm almost done," he whispers, setting the robot on the windowsill. It shifts on it's skinny metal legs before taking off on the next wind gust and disappearing around the side of the building.

When the teacher starts writing on the white board again, Kira flips his middle finger at her back, then winks at me in that adorable fashion of his. I lick my lips in response, then give him a lop-sided smirk, very pleased when his face turns the same shade of pink as the petals In his hair.

Gods, he's so cute. Why didn't I realize I loved him before? Was he always this alluring? I can't believe I hadn't pounced on him until just a few days ago. He's not even trying to be hot, but he is, making me stare like this in the middle of class. But no matter what I do I can't tear my eyes away from his face, focusing on him as he copies down what's written on the board. Almost unconsciously, I draw a heart, then write "AZ+KY" inside of it without looking away from him. I don't think I've ever been this fixated before.

Only when the teacher tells us we can leave do I finally shift my gaze, trying to act like I wasn't just staring at him for ten minutes straight. Once we're outside in the sunlight, Birdee lands on his shoulder again as he turns to me.

"I'll see you tonight," he whispers, pressing his lips to mine before disappearing into the crowds.

A few stare at me rudely, but I'm off in my own little world and don't take any notice. I smile to myself as I get into my newly-painted Z3, the clock by the radio informing me that it's three-thirty - four short hours. Two hundred forty minutes, that's it. I thank the gods for my unbelievably awesome luck, then start the car, every worry or doubt vanishing from my mind. Because I have the best friends in the world, everything's gonna turn out perfect. Just me and Kira, Kira and I, whatever. Grammar is definitely not what I'm fantasizing about right now.

"What's all this running around for?" my mom asks just as I'm about to make my last trip upstairs before I leave.

"Tonight has to be perfect," I reply.

"Why? What's going on?" she looks up at me as I stand on the staircase, puzzled.

"Me, Kira, date, don't mention it to dad," I whisper before dashing up to my room.

Wallet, gift, jacket, I think I have everything. I look at myself in the mirror on the wall of the hallway, making sure I look suitable for tonight. Sure, I'm wearing cargo pants and Chucks, but I forced myself to wear a button down outside of school, even though it's over a T-shirt.

"Mom? Do I look okay?" I ask while watching for my dad.

"Of course. But you should probably button and tuck in your shirt, it looks sloppy like this," she starts doing the button sup for me, and I quickly object to it, saying it'll look stupid.

"I'm not going for the formal, nice guy look, mom," I inform her, smoothing the wrinkles she made in the fabric.

"Then what are you going for?"

"Worthy of Kira, good enough to make him want to get in bed with me. What'd you expect?" I laugh.

"Have fun, but go easy on him, he's still injured," she says with a smile.

"I will," I call as I close the heavy front door behind me.

Yeah right I'll go easy. He's always tempting me, staring at me with those huge eyes of his, making me start day dreaming in the middle of class. Like hell I'm gonna go easy. But I do really care for him, it's just that he makes me want things I shouldn't, think things I know are wrong to most people. Close-minded people like our dads, Cagalli, and most of the kids at our school.

None of that matters, though! I tell myself, whipping my head back and forth as I sit at a red light. Remember: calm, cool, no public displays of affection . . . That's gonna be hard.

"Calm, calm, calm, no public displays of–" my muttering as I walk up to the house is cut short when the door opens. Kira stands there, his face lit by the setting sun behind me.

"Hey," I say quietly, my eyes fixed on him.

"Hi, we can go now, he says, rubbing his eye.

He brushes a lock of hair from his face, the color at the tip matching the dragon on his tank top. There's something about the orange light hits his eyes that particularly enchants me, not to mention that he looks amazing in the first place.

"Hm? No crutches?" I ask, snapping out of my staring.

"Nah, I was just sitting around for four hours, I think I can handle walking," he says with a reassuring smile as he comes to stand beside me. Now that I get a closer look at him, I notice a slight difference about his face.

"Why are your eyes red?" I ask, brushing my finger over the bottom lid.

"N-no reason. I'm fine, it's nothing," he turns away from me, trying not to let me see his face.

"Tell me," I whisper, taking his hand gently and pulling him towards me.

"No! There's nothing to say!" he says defensively.

"Why were you crying?" he bites his lip, gnawing at it for a moment before answering me.

"Can't we talk about this later? Somewhere besides here?" he asks.

"In the car, but you have to tell me," I say, giving him a stern glare.

"I will, we just have to get away from here first," he pushes me towards the car, and no matter how confused I am, I don't say anything else. It's his turn to talk. For the first few minutes of the drive, I let him I let him avoid speaking, think of whatever he's going to say, before stabbing the "off" button on the CD player and glancing at him.

"Now?" he asks, gulping.

"Yes, now."

"Well, my parents . . . Have been fighting a lot lately. Yelling at each other until really late at night. I haven't slept well in days," he says, staring out at the dusky sky.

"What're the fights about?" I ask, tilting my head to one side.

"Money and . . . Us."

My eyes widen, "you're kidding, right?"

"Would I kid about this?" I shake my head, because I know he wouldn't.

"What do they say?"

"My dad thinks it's out of hand, that it shouldn't be so unrestricted. My mom is all for it, thinks it's wonderful. Until my dad started asking hypothetical questions. 'What about kids? Who will carry on the Yamato name?' and 'what if one of them gets an STD and dies?'"

"That second one is certainly pleasant," I say sarcastically.

"I know. Baka . . ." he mumbles.

"I'm sure the fighting is gonna start in the Zala household soon," I say.

"Yeah, but you're stronger than I am. I tried to make them stop but they wouldn't listen and then my dad . . . " he rubs his face where a faint mark is visible on his skin.

"He hit you!" I yell.

"Well, I–"

"No excuses! Did he!"

"Yes . . ."

"Has this happened before?" My mind flashes back to the two instances when he said things weren't going well at home.

"How long has he been hitting you!

"It was only twice! But you should know that . . . Cagalli has been picking on me lately. She wakes up early and makes noise in her room so I can't sleep, uses all the hot water in the shower, and takes my clean clothes and hides them."

"Anything else minorly important you'd like to tell me? Molestation, maybe!" I shout, slamming the car door.

"No, that's it," he says, staring at the ground. He wobbles a bit on his feet, his leg obviously bothering him.

"You don't have your crutches, do you?" I ask.

He shakes his head sadly, "she took them," he says quietly.

"Kira . . . Why the hell didn't you tell me this was going on? I want to know these things so I can stop them," I ask, my hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't want you to get involved, because she'll take it out on you, too," he replies.

"She's done enough to me already! If she lays her hand on my property, she's dead. My property includes you, Kira." He blushes a little as he looks up at me, a smile on his lips at last.

"I promise I'll kick her ass if she odes anything else to you. Now c'mon, we're gonna be late." I grab his hand and start pulling him down the sidewalk, then he yells at me for going to fast.

"I'm–"

"If you're apologizing, it's not your fault this happened, any of it. You just like to worry, don't you?" he says with a smirk.

"No, I like to protect you, unlike I had to do for a certain _ex-girlfriend_ of mine."

I glance around, waiting to hear a growl from the growing shadows, but nothing comes. Guess Yzak and Dearka are doing they're job right, or they've tied her up so they can go on a date too. Knowing those two, it's probably the latter.

"Was Cagalli home when you left?" I ask.

"No," he answers; so she _is_ here. I look over my shoulder suspiciously, then scan the people in front of me for her blonde head. How a blonde chick turned out to be so brilliantly evil is beyond me.

"Athrun, don't even think about her. She's not gonna do anything," he says, tugging at my arm. I only wish I could believe him.

TBC . . .


	10. The Date, Part 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! You guys are awesome! I spent all Easter writing the end of this chapter, so I hope you enjoy the lime-y goodness! **

**Chapter Ten: The Date, Part 2**

My cell phone rings just as the waitress arrives with our dessert, and I have to admit it's hard to leave Kira sitting there with a bowl of raspberry chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream. The things I could do with whipped cream . . . My mind expands upon this idea as I step into the waiting area of the restaurant to talk.

"Athrun, where should we go next?" Dearka asks.

"The beach. 'We' as in you and Yzak, I'm guessing?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for what you did. I really appreciate it," he says quietly.

"I should be thanking you. How's the Cagalli-stalking?"

"Yzak got a few old friends of his to keep her busy for a while. Let's put it that way." I hear snickering in the background, and I immediately know Yzak did something horrible to Cagalli. Finally someone gets back at her.

"Other than that, how're things? Y'know, with you two."

"It's getting there."

"Getting where? If you try to pull anything in public I swear I'll shoot you straight through the head, you pervert!" Yzak yells.

"I see what you mean. Good luck trying to make any progress," I say with a laugh.

"Thanks, I'm sure I'll need it. Talk to you later," he sighs.

"Bye, and thanks." I shove the phone back into my pocket and sit down with Kira again, who gives me a confused look.

"Dearka. He was thanking me for setting him up with Yzak," I say, scooping up the puff of whipped cream with my spoon.

"I can only imagine how that's going," he says.

"Yeah, bad times, probably," I say in agreement, then lick the spoon clean. He stirs the dessert around for a moment, staring out the window absent-mindedly.

"You worried about something, Kira?" I ask.

"No, just thinking about how awesome it is to be on a date with you," he answers, smiling contently. He sighs and rests his chin on his hand, looking out at the growing darkness of the evening.

"I know that's not it, but I won't pester you here. I'll save it for later," I say, leaning back in my chair and smirking.

He winces and starts eating again, still visibly sulking, though. I watch him lick his lips, knowing how good his mouth will taste now that he's eaten chocolate. But I'll have to wait until later to kiss him, only once he tells me what's bothering him. I can tell he's unsettled by the troubled expression on his face. I tap his spoon with mine, making him look up at me from the very interesting napkin in his lap.

"What?" he asks, glancing up at me briefly.

"Nothing, just wanted to look at you," I say with a sly smile.

"I'm, sure," he says, rolling his eyes.

"You ready to go?" I ask. He nods, anticipation reflected in his eyes as I ask for the check. I give the waitress my money, telling her to keep the change, then Kira follows me out of the restaurant, walking a bit slower than before.

"Are you sure you wanna go to the beach?" I ask, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he gives me a genuine smile, and in a few minutes, we get of the car to see a basically empty beach before us. Satisfied, I hop down the rocks to the sand with Kira following carefully behind.

"Now, tell me why you're worrying," I say softly, holding his hand tightly in mine.

"I think if they keep arguing like this, my parents are gonna punish me. Or, rather, both of us. Either that, or they're gonna split up. I would go with mom, Cagalli with dad," he says, kicking at the sand as we walk.

"That's stupid. There's nothing they can do to stop us from seeing each other. I mean, we go tot the same school," I say. I'm sure my dad won't remember that fact when he punishes me for tonight. He doesn't know yet, but I'm preparing for the worst.

"That can't be all that's on your mind," I say, waiting to hear more about what's going on.

"Besides you, that's pretty much it. Oh, Sox play tonight at ten. We're in Seattle," he sticks his tongue out because of the late game.

"Not like I wasn't planning on staying up til one anyway," I shrug.

I'm a night owl, while Kira actually _enjoys_ getting up early. Like that's possible with the amount of sleep he's been getting lately. We wander aimlessly and silently down the beach for a while, watching the stars begin to reveal themselves against the blue-black sky.

"It's so beautiful tonight," he whispers, staring up at the tiny pinpoints of light.

I sit down on the sand and he joins me, clinging to my arm and resting his head on my shoulder. I watch the waves crash for as long as I can before looking back at him, knowing he won't be staring like I am.

"Hey Kira," I whisper.

"Mmm? Yeah?" he lifts his head and looks up at me, his eyes shining in the faint moonlight.

"I have something to give you," I say, reaching into the cargo pocket of my pants.

I take out the wrapped box and give it to him, waiting to see what he says. He tears the paper off and opens the box, throwing the tissue paper aside to reveal the piece of jewelry. The red jade catches the light, shining eerily in the dimness.

"This is for me?" he asks, taking it out to get a closer look. .

"Do you like it?" I ask, smiling.

"I love it!" he exclaims. He quickly clasps it around his neck, running his fingers over the smooth heart-shaped stone dangling form the leather.

"I'm assuming that you had a good time tonight?" I ask.

"Of course," he answers.

"Then do you wanna do this more often?"

"You mean . . ."

"Do you wanna be my boyfriend, Kira-chan?" He replies by wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing me hard, getting comfortable in my lap.

I run my hands down his body to rest on his waist, kissing him back forcefully, pushing my tongue into his mouth. He tries to fight back, but I pin him down on the sand, watching him squirm impatiently for a moment before running my tongue across his lips, a small, desperate moan escaping his throat.

After tonight, I can already tell that kissing isn't going to satisfy either of us anymore. But for right now, that's all I'm willing to do here, in semi-public, the semi because no one is around. Not that either of us would notice.

His breaths come in heavy panting when I give him the chance, my lips almost constantly pressed to his. His little muffled groans sound desperate as I caress the inside of his mouth with my tongue. I pull away and open my eyes, watching as he breathes heavily and rapidly beneath me, his chest rising and falling quickly.

How did I live this long without feeling like this? This dedication and passion? Before I can answer myself, he tugs at the collar of my shirt, asking for more with his actions and his eyes. He stares up at me, pleading with those orbs of purple. He knows I can't resist his eyes. I smile mischievously before tucking his hair behind his ear and running my tongue along the edge, feeling his whole body shudder as I do so. Smirking, I start to suckle gently, sending him into a fit of small cries. He writhes and pants, whimpering my name, his arms tight around my neck.

"Athrun . . . Please . . ." he begs.

"What? I'm not going much farther than this here," I whisper.

"Then lets . . ."

"Let's what?" I ask, knowing what he's going to say.

"Go back to your house," he replies.

"I'll have to think about it," I say wickedly, nipping at his earlobe.

"You bastard . . . Just take me home already!" he cries. I lift my head, eyes wide in disbelief, but I don't object to his request.

"If that's what you want," I whisper as I get to my feet. I help him up and we head back up the beach, then climb the rocks in silence, but I notice his face is a color close to that of the stone on his choker.

"Kira, you have to tell me . . . How far are you willing to go tonight?" I ask.

"Why are you asking? You're on top," he says stubbornly.

"If you're gonna be like that, I can't guarantee anything," I retort. He frowns and looks away from me as we get into the car, and he stays that way the whole ride back to my house. It isn't that late, sadly, so my dad is probably still awake.

"Stay here for a minute," I whisper.

He loiters in the driveway while I run up to the house and peer in the narrow window beside the door to see an empty sitting room, and my dad never goes in the kitchen, so he must be in his wing. I motion for Kira to follow me and he cuts across the lawn to stand beside me, then we dart up the marble stairs, shadow-like, closing my bedroom door behind me with a soft click.

"Kira, tell me what you want," I whisper.

"Forget I even mentioned that, okay? We can just go watch the game and pretend it never happened," he says.

"You don't want me to forget about it, though."

"Why would I? You're the one I love and I want you to be the one to take my virginity," he says quietly, cracking his knuckles nervously.

"It's just too much too soon. I don't think I could do it if I had to worry about that bandage anyway."

"Damn her . . . Damn that bitch to hell!" he yells.

"Which one?" I ask with a bitter laugh.

"Flay, it's her fault. No, both of them. Cagalli . . . She did something, I can tell," he says.

"How do you know?" I ask, lying down on the bed.

"I could feel her presence. It's that twin thing," he says with a shrug as he sits down next to me, hugging a pillow to his chest.

"I'm sorry about earlier, when I yelled like that. I guess I was just . . . Desperate. Worried that our parents will break us up before we can get very far," he admits shyly.

"Kira, haven't I told you time and time again to stop being like that? If they try _anything_ to keep us apart, it won't work," I say calmly. He flops down on the pillows and closes his eyes, sighing tiredly.

"I hope they don't find out about tonight," he says, rolling over onto his side so he can snuggle up next to me.

"They won't. Plus, our moms don't care, it's just our dads we–" my sentence is cut short when my bedroom door flies open, Dearka and Yzak standing in the doorway, looking very out of breath.

"Why are you two doing here?" I ask, sitting up in surprise.

"It's . . . Cagalli . . . She," Dearka says, taking breaths in between words.

"Video tape, beach, snogging, you on top of Kira," Yzak says frantically.

"She did WHAT!" I yell, jumping up from the bed, "if you're lying I'm gonna rip your hair out!" I shake him by the shoulders, glaring at him murderously.

"It's true. We caught her leaving the beach, but she beat us back to her house and was locked in her room by the time we got there," Dearka explains.

"She's gonna show them . . ." Kira mutters, collapsing against my shoulder, his eyes wide.

"Fuck! How could she get away with this!" I shout at no one in particular.

"We thought she went home but she must have brought her car home after my friends beat her up. She left the beach on a motorcycle. Didn't know it was hers," Yzak shrugs.

"I didn't know she had one either. I'm wicked sorry, Athrun. If there's anything else you need for me to do for you, I'm willing to, but I think you're just gonna have to live with her showing your parents," Deraka says.

"No! They can't find out! Not my dad! We have to get it back!" I snap.

"But how, Athrun? She's got the door locked and wouldn't open it, even for her mother. There's no way you're getting in," Yzak says.

"I'm gonna get the disk! Kira, c'mon!" I tug on his arm with a sense of urgency. There's only so long she'll wait, stewing in her own evil pride, before she decides to crawl out of her hole and flaunt the proof.

"Athrun, _I'll_ get it. She's my sister, as unbelievable as that is. She'll listen to me," Kira says, pulling his arm free of my grasp.

"Listen? _Listen!_ She'll laugh at your misfortune and then take more of your belongings! If I'm gonna get it back, talking isn't gonna do it, Kira!"

The three of them look taken aback at how pissed off I am, but this . . . This is just the icing on the cake. It'll be even worse if I let her get away with it.

"You two don't have to come, but Kira, there's no way I'm dealing with your psychotic sister by myself! Let's go!" I drag him down the stairs, leaving Dearka and Yzak in the doorway, staring blankly after us as I slam the front door, the sound echoing throughout the house.

"Athrun, slow down, my leg hurts!" Kira yells.

"I'm sorry! Oh, shit, are you okay?" I ask worriedly as he slumps to the ground.

"I-ouch-think so," he winces as he pulls up his pant leg to examine the bandage, the blood stain more vibrant than ever before.

"No you're not! It looks awful!" I kneel down beside him, not caring that I'm getting grass stains on my pants as I carefully lift him up.

"Owww, it really hurts," he whispers.

"Do you want to go back to my room while I go to your house?" I ask.

"No, I have to go. If my dad's gonna find out, I don't want you to get yelled at alone," he replies.

"This isn't a time to worry about me! If you're in pain, you're staying here!" I say, turning back towards the house. Dearka and Yzak run across the lawn, trampling my dad's favorite shrubs in the process; my friends are so awesome.

"What happened now?" Yzak asks.

"You sound concerned," Dearka says, glaring at him.

"Shut up! What's wrong?" he stomps on Dearka's foot, then turns to me.

"Cagalli took my crutches, so I've been walking all night," Kira answers.

"The cuts's bleeding pretty heavily," I add.

"Then you two stay here. We'll deal with Cagalli," Yzak says, smiling darkly.

"But–"

"I know it'd kill you to leave your Kira-chan bleeding and helpless in your room, so we'll do you one last favor before we start asking for money," Dearka says.

"Just don't kill anyone besides her. And bring the disk back in one piece!" I call as the two of them disappear up the driveway, into the darkness. I only tear my eyes away form the shadows when Kira whimpers and shifts in my arms, the pain obviously worsening.

"Shh, hey, it's alright, we're gonna go back inside," I whisper. He nods, his eyes squeezed shut, as I go back up to the front door, barely able to turn the knob, then shove it open with my shoulder. To my horror, my father is standing in the hallway from his wing, staring at us.

"Athrun, what did I tell you about seeing that boy?" he asks, his eyes cold as he scowls at me.

"Dad, let it go! His leg is bleeding!" I yell, not at all in a position to argue with him.

"I'll let you off without a punishment this time, because he's hurt, but if I catch you two together again you're both in serious trouble!" my dad yells.

I run up the stairs, not looking back at my father, who I know is still glaring even after I've locked my bedroom door securely behind me. I set Kira down on the bed, making sure he's comfortable, before running down the hall to the bathroom for the bandages and antiseptic. When I return, he's sitting on the edge of the bed, unwrapping the old bandage, his pants lying on the floor. I wince as he removes the last layer, the blood already running down his leg.

"Hold these," I whisper, handing him the two items before kneeling down on the floor. I nuzzle my lips against his thigh for a moment before licking the fresh blood from his skin. The metallic taste lingers in my mouth as I apply the antibacterial liquid, then wrap the bandage around it.

"Why'd you do that?" he asks, staring blankly at me.

"Because I love you," I answer simply.

"You wanna borrow some of my clothes? You'll be more comfortable in pajamas," I say, standing up and going over to my dresser. I take out a pair of cotton lounging pants and toss them to him, and he catches them easily, then pulls them on.

He glances at the clock, then at me, "baseball," he says.

I smile at the fact that he has a two-track mind like me, then let him lean on me as we go to my work room, not that I've been making anything lately. And any unfinished projects were destroyed by Hurricane Cagalli not too long ago, so I have to start everything over again. At least she didn't take the parts or anything.

I flip the TV on, the announcer informing me that it's the home half of the second inning, so we haven't missed much, not that I care about the opposing team. Pfft, the Mariners, they're so horrible.

"Hey, where's Birdee?" I ask, looking over at him as he settles down on the couch.

"Home. I thought you wouldn't want it coming on the date with us," he says.

"Always thinking of me. You're so cute," I say, running my hand through his hair as I sit with him. He rests his head on my shoulder and I stroke his head gently, calming him as well as myself.

I try not to think of what's going on with Cagalli. The feeling of defeat stirs in my stomach, something at the back of my mind telling me things aren't going well.

"Cagalli still has feelings for you," Kira whispers.

"I know, that's why she's doing this to us. If I knew this would happen, I never would have dated her in the first place. I regret it," I say quietly.

We sit in the silence for a moment, cherishing the temporary peace before it's broken: the phone on the desk rings loudly. I answer it with an impatient "hello," then when I hear Dearka's voice, I tense up, afraid to hear the result of their mission.

"How'd it go?" I ask.

"She wouldn't give us the disk," Yzak says solemnly. My heart sinks considerably.

"So we took the whole camera."

"Really!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, we're gonna watch it right now. Maybe Yzak will take the hint and let me try something with him," Dearka whispers.

"You're not trying anything tonight! See you in a few, Athrun," Yzak says.

"Bye, have fun," I laugh.

"Did they get it?" Kira asks anxiously.

"The disk _and_ the camera."

Somehow, though, I don't think it's allowed to be this easy. Something has to get fucked up somewhere along the way, and our dads end up finding out anyway. But maybe for once, I'm wrong with my pessimistic outlook on a topic.

Then again, knowing Cagalli, and it being _my_ life after all, I'm willing to bet I'm just trying to reassure myself, because she did something. She would never let me win this easily. She'd rather die than surrender, and I know that from experience with her. If she wants something done, or stopped, it happens.

It's around one fifteen when I turn off the TV and carry Kira back to my room, trying to be gentle so he doesn't wake up. Of course, I stumble over my sneakers that I stupidly left in the doorway, jerking his body in my arms as I steady myself. He murmurs softly as I cover him with the blankets, tossing from side to side before curling up into a ball and settling.

Even though I've been up since six, I don't feel particularly tired. I probably got more sleep than Kira did last night. I never thought she'd stoop so low as to take his crutches. I didn't think she hated him that much, but it's not really hatred, it's jealousy. She still has some kind of feelings for me, and that's why she wants to get back at him, because he gets to be with me instead. Talk about sibling rivalry, huh? I change into my pajamas and sit down on the bed with my Walkman in my lap, lying back against the pillows and staring up at the ceiling.

I'm never gonna fall asleep, knowing that Cagalli is scheming and Dearka and Yzak have the video of me and Kira on the beach. They could make copies of it and sell it to some crazy squealing chicks who like the idea of boys with other boys. (1) I won't be surprised if they do.

I wonder if Dearka talked Yzak into going home with him. I don't think even Dearaka would do everything on the first night, even though he has with some ex-girlfriends. Once again, it's that love thing, too cherished to rush the relationship. I can't remember the last girlfriend Yzak had, so there's a good chance it'll be his first time with Dearka. Yes, I'm assuming that they're go ing to have sex because Dearka's just as desperate as me when it comes to that.

Yzak never talks about his personal life, or his past to anyone, not even Dearka. This makes me think of last week, when we followed Kira and Flay, and Yzak pulled that gun out of his pocket . . . I got the impression that Dearka knew about that, so I'll get the story from him, since I know Yzak won't say a word.

I must have the volume too high on the current song because Kira stirs beside me, rolling onto his side to face me. I carefully push him onto his back again, because if he lies on his right side it'll irritate the wound even more.

"Athrun . . ." he mutters, turning towards me again. Talking in his sleep, huh? Probably having a wet dream about us. I doubt it, actually, I'm the only one perverted enough to have that happen. After a few more little mumbles, he grabs my arm and pulls himself, slowly opening his heavy eyelids.

"Sorry I fell asleep," he says almost inaudibly.

"No, I want you sleep since you can't at home," I say, taking my headphones off and setting my Walkman on the bookshelf.

"But . . . I don't wanna sleep," he whispers seductively.

I gaze into his shining eyes that are barely lit by the moonlight, but I don't need to see his expression to know what he wants. It's all displayed clearly through his voice and the gentle tugging at my sleeve.

Without a word from either of us, I push him back onto the pillows, our lips meeting in a desperate kiss, my lips tearing at his hungrily. I force my tongue into his hot, wet mouth, the feel of his tongue touching mine sending a shudder of pleasure through my body as he tangles his fingers in my hair. He groans, his body arching up against mine, and after one last caress, I draw my tongue out and lift my head, gasping. He clings to me, breathing hard for a moment before pulling at the collar of my shirt.

"More," he sighs in a helpless voice.

Saving the weakness for later, I lay kisses on his neck, pausing to leave little red marks all over his skin. I push up his shirt and he takes it off for me, obviously not wanting me to stop. I run my tongue down his chest in slow strokes, the avoidance of his sensitive nipples provoking an annoyed noise from him. I trace circles around the right, then the left with my tongue, and only when he hisses my name do I begin to slowly suckle on the hard nub.

No matter how hard he bites down on them, a long, low groan still escapes his lips as I suck on the other before beginning to kiss him down his abs. His panting becomes heavier the closer I get to his crotch, the longing for release evident. I pull his pants off his hips and he kicks them aside for me, thinking he's going to get what he wants, but I have other plans.

I move all the way back up to his ear, barely licking the edge before he whimpers helplessly. I nip at the skin, then start sucking on the ear lobe as he holds me tighter around my neck, moaning. He squirms impatiently, rubbing his erection against my thigh and getting the desired result: I stop my assault on his weakness and sit back so I can take off my shirt and pants, then lie down again. I shift so my leg is between his and he rubs against it desperately.

"Do you want release that badly?" I ask.

"Gods yes! You have no idea how much it hurts!" he cries.

"Maybe I do," I say, my hands at his waist. I remove the last article of his clothing, then of mine, studying each other's bodies in the faint light.

"Athrun . . ." he whispers, his voice trembling.

"I know this is the farthest we've ever gone, but we both want much more than this," I say softly. He nods, struggling not to touch himself as he writhes under me.

"Since you're behaving at the moment, I think I might indulge you and go a bit farther," I add.

"How far is a bit?" he asks.

"I haven't decided. Why don't we wait and see how far we get?" I smile suggestively at him, a predatory glimmer in my eyes.

"I don't care, as long as it relieves me of–"

"It will, don't worry about that. How could I possibly resist you, Kira?"I purr, touching my tongue to his lips.

He parts them for me and I start kissing him again, this time more frantic, and I have to stop for a moment just to groan as the wet tip of his cock touches mine.

"Oh, gods!" he gasps at the sudden very intimate contact.

"Kira, I don't know how much more of this I can take," I whisper, struggling to keep my voice steady as he gently rubs against me.

"More of what?" he breathes.

"Foreplay like this! I want you so badly, Kira!" I cry, tossing my head back.

"I know release isn't exactly what you want, but I can help with it anyway. Lie on your back," he instructs.

I do as he says, willing to submit to him just this once. I can tell by the twinkle in his eyes that he's planning something especially evil. He cups my face in his hands as he slowly kisses me, and just when I think he's going to be shy about this, he grinds his hips down onto mine. Hard.

I have to tear my lips away from his so I can scream and he does the same, maybe even louder than me. Instead of continuing in kissing, he moves down so he can run his tongue along my inner thigh, and I buck my hips up, begging for him to be licking something else. He looks up at me with a smirk on his lips before biting at the soft flesh of my leg, a large red mark appearing.

"Kira, please," I whimper very uncharacteristically.

"Is this what you want?" he asks, laying a light kiss on the tip of my erection.

"Gods, yes! Please!" I cry, tugging at his hair. He slowly draws my cock into his mouth, any thoughts in my head shattering at this sensation.

"Yes! Oh, Kiraaaa!" I scream as he starts to suck, his head bobbing up and down.

I squeeze my eyes shut, submitting myself to him completely. I can't stop panting and screaming, no matter how hard I try to suppress it. I've never felt anything this intimate before. I force myself deeper into his mouth, but he stops and looks up at me.

"Not that far in, it triggers my gag reflex," he whispers.

"Fine, but you better not stop! It feels so good!" I hiss.

He starts to suckle again, but this time, he's humming small notes as he does so. The vibrations send waves of pleasure through my body, the direct stimulation getting me closer to the edge. I'm crying his name over and over, not caring that my parents can probably hear me, not that I can even think straight. When he starts moving his mouth up and down my cock, it's all I can take.

"KIRA!" I scream, my back arching off the bed as the warm liquid empties into his mouth. He swallows every drop as my breathing slowly begins to even out, then he sits back on his heels and smiles at me.

"Never let me submit to you again," I whisper.

"Why? Didn't like what I did?" he asks.

"You tortured me! But gods, it felt so good," I reply.

"I'm glad. You must be tired, so I'll just . . ." He's about to start touching himself, but I snatch his wrist away in mid-movement.

"I wan to repay you," I say, "and I'm not tired, at least not too much to give you oral, too," I say.

"That was my first time ever giving it to anyone," he says quietly.

"First time receiving and giving," I say, smirking at him.

"And by the way, Athy," he whispers as he lies down, " I love how you taste," he slowly licks his lips, grinning at me deviously.

"Same to you," I say softly. I

need return him to his usual submissive state before I can please him. Since he made me suffer like that, I think I'll do the same. Plus, he's really hot when he begs.

"Athrun, don't think I can't see that look in your eyes," he whispers.

"What look?" I ask, faking innocence as I glance up at him.

Giving him a lop-sided smile, I slip my first two fingers into my mouth, sucking on them for a moment before running them down the length of his cock. He sighs heavily, his breathing becoming labored again when I lower my head between his legs, my lips ghosting over the head. Even though I barely touch my tongue to it, he groans none the less, forcing his hips up.

"You think I'm gonna go easy on you?" I breathe against his erection.

"Maybe," he sighs.

"Not after you _tortured_ me like that," I whisper, giving the tip another slight taste.

"Athrun, please," he sighs, his voice husky; my plan is working.

"Please what?" I ask.

"You bastard . . . Gods, it hurts! Please!" he cries, pulling at my hair in an attempt to get what he wants. "I need release!" he bucks his hips desperately, but his actions only make me withdraw.

"If you behave, I might give it to you," I say before sucking on my fingers again, then rubbing the already wet tip with them.

"Athrun, just do it already!"

Deciding I've had enough of being mean to him, I draw his cock into my mouth and slowly mimic what he did to me, and getting basically the same result. His breathing becomes harsher and louder, saying my name with increasing volume on each exhaled breath. He pushes farther into my mouth and I try not to gaga, pulling away slightly so it's easier for me.

I can tell he's close by the way he's screaming now, tugging at my hair painfully and I lift my head so I can lick him up and down his length, paying special attention to the throbbing head.

Before I can take him inside of my mouth, though, he wails my name and the warm liquid gushes out all down my neck and chest.

"Athrun, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" he yells, sitting up quickly and wiping the fluid from my skin.

"Kira, it's okay, just let me . . ." I grab his wrist and slowly lick his finger clean, then smile at him.

"Was that okay?" I ask.

He replies by giving me a hot, open-mouthed kiss before crawling under the blankets, smiling coyly at me from under his shaggy hair. I curl up beside him and he buries his face in my neck, sighing softly.

"I love you, Kira," I whisper.

"I love you, too. Just never torture me like that again," he says.

"But you're so sexy when you plead, Kira," I retort.

"So are you," he says.

Smiling contently, I fall asleep after a few minutes of holding his warm body in my arms. I don't even think of my parents, or Cagalli, or the baseball game I know I'm going to miss later today, because none of that matters when we're together like this. Kira is all that I really need.

(1) - Basically anyone that is reading this fic. I would give _anything_ for that disk! (dies of nosebleed)


	11. Resolution ?

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! Hope you liked the AxK goodness in the last chappie! Enjoy this one as well! **

**Chapter Eleven: Resolution . . . ? **

By the time we decide to crawl out of bed later that day, it's already quarter after two, but we've been awake since one thirty, hehehe . . . I slink down the hall, feeling very pleased with myself, to take a shower, Kira following shortly after. We're both sort of . . . Sticky after this morning's events. I'm sure Dearka didn't have this much fun with Yzak, if he got him back to his house at all.

I'm still feeling quite smug when I go downstairs a few minutes later, glancing around suspiciously for any sign of my dad while I squeeze the water out of my hair. I go into the kitchen to find my mom on the phone and I watch, puzzled, before Kira is at my side and we both sit down on the high stools at the counter.

"They just woke up, and they look quite guilty to me. Don't worry, I will."

She hangs up and turns to us, glaring, "you're awfully lucky your father had to go in for work today or you two would be in so much trouble! Do you know how long I had to listen to you scream each other's names this morning!" she yells. Kira stares at the tile floor, blushing, and I fiddle with the hem of my shirt nervously.

"Two and a half hours! Your father slept through the whole thing! If you're planning on doing it again, make sure it's at the Yamato's house!"

Two and a half hours? I'm impressed. I've never done that sort of thing for so long before, I don't think. I smile proudly and say, "of course we're gonna do it again. We haven't gone all the way yet."

"Then what was all that noise about?" she asks.

"Just a little licking," I reply, glancing at Kira.

"Anyway, Dearka and Yzak stopped by earlier and wanted me to give this to you," she hands me Cagalli's video camera across the counter. Dearka _and_ Yzak, huh?

"Did you watch it?" Kira asks hesitantly.

"Yes, more of what went on this morning," she says, her arms folded, but she can't help but smile.

"I'm glad you're together," she says.

"Me too," I say, wrapping my arm around Kira's waist and pulling him close to me.

"We'll be right back to eat, gotta watch this," I say.

We go to sit on the first landing of the staircase that goes up to my wing and I start from the beginning of the disk, Kira peering over my shoulder.

"Let's see what we got . . . This must be old, a video of me stretching before a game," I say. I'm about to fast forward through it when Kira snatches the camera away, winking at me. I watch over his shoulder now as he turns the camera around to get different angles of me.

"See right there? You're staring at my ass," I say, pointing at the screen.

"So? I like those tight pants on you, Athy," he says, grinning.

"Same to you," I whisper, tucking my hand into the back pocket of his jeans.

"Oh, new video! This must be Lacus' sleep over," he comments.

I gotta thank Lacus some time for having that in the first place, because if not, I never would've spent the night at his house, and none of this ever would have happened. Lacus is probably Cupid in disguise, with her stupid pink hair.

We both watch, intrigued, as Cagalli, Lacus, and a few other girls begin to play Truth or Dare (how juvenile).

"Cagalli, truth, dare, or double dare?" one of the girls asks.

"Double dare! What'd ya think?" Cagalli yells in response. The others, excludng Cagalli and Lacus, conference for a moment before turning back to her.

"We double dare you to make out with Lacus!" they exclaim. We stare at each other in shock before looking back at the screen.

"Hey, I have a boyfriend, that kinda crosses the line . . ."

"She's backing out? No way in hell! This is blackmail material!" I yell.

"Oh, c'mon, Cagalli, it's not a big deal, just do it!" one of the other girls says. Cagalli turns to Lacus, who holds up her hands defensively.

"Don't do it! Please, Kira will be so mad at me!" she yelps.

"What do I have to do and for how long?" Cagalli sighs.

"Use your tongue for two minutes!"

"Oh gods, no!" I shout.

"I'm fast forwarding, don't worry!" Kira says, stabbing at the button.

"Talk about blackmail, huh? We could sell copies to some perverted guys at our school. I'm sure they'd get off to it," I say, returning my gaze to the screen hesitantly.

The events that occurred less than twenty four hours ago are played back to us in the camera's Night Shot mode. The focus zooms in on us just when I ask him to be my boyfriend, then the real blackmail starts. The kisses, the muffled cries, the words exchanged all come in clearly, the fact that I'm watching what we did making me feel very odd.

"After you transfer this to your laptop, you're destroying it!" Kira says.

"What laptop? I'm still getting the bugs out of it," I say bitterly.

"I think it's over." He's about to press the "stop" button, but another video starts up. At first it looks like a mistake, because it's focused on the wall of Cagalli's room, but she can be heard grumbling in the background about something having ADHD.

"Wait, ADHD?" I shout.

Cagalli's face appears on the screen and she says, "by the time you see this, Athrun-chan and Kira-chan, your little love token will have been destroyed already by yours truly. Just thought you might wanna say good-bye to this."

There, in a small cage on her bookshelf, sits Birdee, beating it's wings against the bars desperately. We're both speechless for several minutes.

"She wouldn't . . ." I mutter, my eyes wide with shock.

"She . . . Killed Birdee?" Kira whimpers. He looks up at me, his eyes twinkling with tears.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's just a bluff," I say reassuringly.

"Just in case, though, let's go to your house." He nods in agreement, wiping his tears and I run up to my room, grabbing my car keys and throwing the camera on the bed.

Even though he's not crying as we drive to his house, I can see him fighting back the sobs, biting down hard on his bottom lip. He runs ahead of me into the house, up the stairs, and before I'm even in the hallway, I hear te thud of him falling to his knees and sniffling. I stand in the doorway for a moment, taking in the destruction that lays all over the floor, then sit beside him.

"Athrun! She, she, she . . ." he holds up a single green and yellow wing for me to see before breaking down into sobbing on my shoulder. That's when the horrible realization hits me: the blueprint is gone. That was one of the ones she scribbled on.

I wish I could tell him that I can fix it, but I made it so long ago that I can't remember how I did it. All I remember is slaving over it for weeks, and how happy he was when I gave it to him.

"Kira, this has to stop. She can't get away with this anymore," I say.

I get to my feet and go down the hall to her room with the parts to the robot in my hands. I slam my foot against the door, not caring how much it hurts, and she opens it, giving me a bitchy smile when she sees my expression.

"You found my present, I see," she says, her voice toxic.

"How could you? Do you have any idea how much this meant to him? He's your own _brother_! If you can do something like this and have no guilt, you're heartless1" I yell.

"Do you know how much _you_ meant to me? I loved you, I really did, but you fall for my _brother_! Brother, as in he's a _guy_! You have no idea how much it hurts to have your heart broken!" she screams.

"Because of you, I might! You threaten us and stalk us and destroy our property! If this goes on, he'll break up with me because he's worried about_ my _well-being! How did you end up so cold when Kira is so sweet?"

"Sweet? _Sweet?_ He steals my boyfriend out from under my nose and he's sweet?"

"It's not like he goes around bragging about it! All he ever did was smile about it! He keeps trying to hid what's really going on with you and your parents because he doesn't want me to worry!

"That just goes to show what cowards you both are!"

"If you had just let us be I would like you a lot more, but you had to keep prodding! The more you do the more I'm going to hate you, Cagalli! I hate you for all of this and I regret ever dating you at all!" She stutters for a moment then backs away from me slowly, as if everything I said is news to her.

"But Athrun, don't you remember all those things we did? You said you loved me so many times! I spent a whole day in bed with you once!"

I fall silent, looking away, not wanting to remember, but I do anyway. Her parents were out of town, Kira had gone on a date with Lacus, so I took advantage of the situation.

"That was cheap sex, Cagalli! It never meant anything! If I had really loved you I wouldn't have rushed into it!" I finally manage to retort.

"You said you liked it then! That's all we did!"

"And that's exactly why I can't stand the thought of ever being with you! It was all physical! What I feel for Kira is both emotional and physical. Sure, you're a hot blonde and you have a rack, but that's all I wanted you for! You can't call it love if all you like is the person's appearance!" I shout, my blood seething with rage.

"You think I don't know that? It's both for me, too, Athrun! I love your personality and your body!"

"You're just saying this now to try and get me back, but it's not going to work. Nothing will work. If it was my choice, I would never see you again, but things aren't going to go that way, are they? You can scream and cry and swear all you want, but it's not going to make me love you and it's not going to help me fix Birdee."

I slam the door to her room behind me and storm down the hall, back into Kira's room, where he sits on the bed and looks up at me timidly; he heard everything.

"Get your stuff. You're staying with me for the weekend," I snap. He nods and starts putting items into his backpack and I carefully place the pieces to the bird on his desk, then go down to the kitchen to find something to carry them in.

"I heard all that yelling," Mrs. Yamato says, looking up form her book.

"Oh, you did . . . If you want me to explain, I can, but right now I need a bag, preferably something nice," I say. She doesn't ask what it's for, just goes into the guest bedroom and returns with a purple drawstring bag that's th perfect size to put the parts in.

"Thanks a lot. Kira is coming to my house because he need so be away from–"

"I know, I was actually going to suggest it myself. Your mother told me about what you two were doing this morning."

"Two and a half hours," I say proudly.

"Just don't get hurt or anything, okay?" she says tiredly.

"No problem," I say with a smile.

When I return to his room, his belongings are all packed and he's busy hanging up clothes, his crutches lying on the floor.

"She gave everything back," he says, glancing at me.

"I noticed." I fidget uncomfortably before handing the bag to him.

"For . . . Birdee," I say, gesturing towards the desk.

"Thanks," he says, his voice trembling as he gathers the pieces in the velvet bag.

I can't bear the expression on his face when he looms up at me, sorrow in his eyes but a smile plastered on his lips. I'm willing to stay up for two months straight to repair it if he'll truly smile at me again.

I spend the rest of the afternoon and most of the early evening in my room with Kira. He loiters around nervously while I try to decipher what I can of Birdee's blueprint. How I created something so complex at such a young age really is amazing. Guess my teachers were right when they said I was brilliant. Less now than I used to be, when my mind was pure and unpoisoned . . .

"Do you need anything, Athrun?" he asks quietly.

"Not at the moment, but thank you," I answer, my eyes never leaving the paper.

"How do you think it's going?" he asks hopefully.

"Better than I thought. I made all-new wings, which was fairly easy, and a new tail," I reply.

"How much longer do you think it'll take?"

I sigh heavily and spin around in the swivelling chair, "I'm not really sure. Depending on the state of the animatronics chip, it could take anywhere from the rest of the night to a month."

"I'm sorry you have to slave over it like this. I never thought that if I left it home she'd kill it," he whispers.

"Don't worry about it, Kira. I needed to get back to work on my robots anyway. Nothing better to do, at least not school-related," I roll my eyes as I spin around again. He tries to smile but his bottom lip is trembling too much to curve upwards.

"Kira, it's okay, I'll fix it, I promise. There's no need to cry," I say, taking his hands in mine.

He falls to his knees and rests his head in my lap, crying softly against my thigh. I stroke his head, trying to calm him, but this just causes him to nuzzle against my leg even more. He knows I'm sensitive to his position, clips of this morning running through my head, but I focus on getting him to stop crying. I gently pull him up into my lap and he winds his arms around my neck, his lips brushing my skin.

He takes a deep breath, then looks up at me, "thank you, Athrun," he whispers, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"For what?" I ask.

"Always being here for me. I know you hate it when I cry, but one of us has to," he says.

"If everything was perfect, then we'd never have to cry, would we?" I ask, half to myself.

"No, but nothing is perfect. We have to cope with how things are," he says. I nod sadly, the same things crossing both of our minds: if things were perfect, Flay, Cagalli, and our fathers would accept us and not hate us because we're together. But perfection is unreasonable.

There's a soft knock on the door and Kira whimpers when I get up to unlock it. The door flies open, almost knocking me over, and Dearka and Yzak step into the room, grinning broadly at us. When they see our expressions, though, they look puzzled, then their eyes fall upon the desk.

"Cagalli, I'm guessing?" Yzak asks, closing the door.

"Yeah," I reply.

"We brought over some food, thought you'd be hungry and wouldn't want to go down to the kitchen," Dearka says, setting a bag on the coffee table. It's only now that he mentions eating does my stomach growl quite loudly. I haven't really eaten all day because I've been working, and now I'm starving.

"Thanks, where from?" I ask.

"Dos Amigos Burritos, your favorite," Yzak answers.

"Did you guys get something?" Kira asks.

"Of course! We decided to come over and celebrate our victory, but there's obviously nothing to be happy about now," Dearka says bitterly.

"Not exactly. I can fix Birdee, and Kira and I had a very good time this morning, didn't we?" I ask, winking at Kira suggestively.

"Well so did we!" Dearka says, smirking. A deep red flush steals across Yzak's pale skin, but he doesn't object to Dearka's comment.

"Oh really? I bet it wasn't as good as what we did," I say smugly, sitting down on the couch.

"Maybe we did," Dearka retorts.

"Dearka!" Yzak hisses, glaring at him.

"What? I didn't give any specifics. We can discuss this later! I'm starving!"

The three of us nod in agreement and Yzak and Dearka make themselves comfortable on some floor pillows, sitting closer to one another than I thought they would, and Kira joins me on the couch. Yzak and Kira watch while Dearka and I race each other to see who can eat their food faster, then laugh at us when we both feel sick.

"Serves you right," Yzak says.

"Shut up, or I'm never having you over to my house again!" Dearka yells. Yzak pauses just as he's about to take a bite, scowling sidelong at Dearka and kicking him in the shin.

"So, how far did you get, Dearka?" Kira asks.

"Kira, Kira, Kira, what we did can be described in one word–"

"Nothing," Yzak interrupts.

"I don't know why I put up with you!" Dearka snarls.

"Because you love me and I know exactly what turns you on," Yzak says.

"Same to you," Dearka snaps.

I have to admit that this is quite the strange relationship they have, but I guess you do what feels right. My mind flips back to Yzak and his gun for some reason, and I decide this is probably a good time to ask about that.

"Do you guys remember when we followed Flay?" I ask.

"How could we not? That was an awesome mission, even though we failed!" Dearka exclaims.

"Yzak, that gun . . .Why do you have it?"

"You saw that?" he asks quietly.

"My eyes may not be as good as yours, but I'm not blind," I reply.

"Do you want me to tell them?" Dearka whispers to Yzak, who nods and looks away from us, shame visible in his eyes.

"When we were freshmen and we didn't know you, Yzak and I used to hang around with a risky crowd," Dearka begins.

"Risky isn't the word for it - they were criminals. They accepted us into their group because we could hold our own against them in a fight," Yzak says.

"Some of the kids who were in the group were our age, the oldest one was in his first year of college then, but I can't tell you who they are. We're still linked to them. If we disclose any of the secrets, we could be killed," Dearka says, Yzak clenching his fists in his lap, his eyes narrowed.

"How are you still linked?" I ask carefully. The two look at each other nervously before Yzak pulls his silver hair away from his neck and turns his back to us. Where his neck slopes into his shoulder is a tattoo of Japanese or Chinese letter.

"That's the kanji for 'death'" Kira says quietly.

"Do you have one too?" I ask Dearka.

"Yeah, on my back," he answers.

"Why kanji though?" Kira asks.

"Our leader was half-Japanese, like you are. We were exactly what he was looking for to fill the weak spots. Because we were so skilled, we were always on his good side," Dearka explains.

"Until we decided to quit. Things were getting extreme, the police were catching onto what we were doing, so we backed out. He was so pissed off. The rest of the members beat us bloody, because that was the punishment for quitting. That's how I got this," Yzak points to the long red scar that runs diagonally from the bridge of his nose to below his right eye.

Dearka winces, obviously remembering the gruesome events, "but at least we both lived through it with only that scar left. It could've been worse," Dearka says reassuringly, carefully wrapping his arm around Yzak's shoulders.

"Why did we ever join that stupid gang, Dearka, why?" he shouts, tears of pain running down his face.

"We didn't know any better, we wanted to belong somewhere, to be cool. Why do you think any of the other members were there?" Dearka asks.

"Revenge, bloodlust, better reasons than we had. We joined because we had to. You can't refuse to a guy with a rep that bad," Yzak says, resting his head against Dearka's chest.

"This gang . . . It's not the Black Death, is it?" I ask.

Yzak lets a pained cry escape his throat, clutching Dearka's shirt in his fists as he starts to sob bitterly. My eyes widen at this, because I've never seen Yzak cry before, and Kira looks just as shocked. This must've been a really horrible experience if Yzak is crying and Dearka is being gentle towards him. Kira and I watch, my mind racing to think of something to say to break the awkward silence, aside from Yzak's sniffling and Dearka's faint whispering.

"I'm sorry for bringing this up. I should've known this wasn't exactly the right time," I finally manage to say.

"Actually, I feel better now that you guys know. I felt like I was lying to you before," Dearka says.

"I guess I do, too, but if either of you says a word about this to _anyone_, you're as good as dead!" Yzak snarls.

"Glad to see you're back to normal," Kira laughs.

"If you want us to go back to my room, so you can have your space, we'll leave," I say, feeling uncomfortable.

"No, it's okay. If we're going to talk about this, it shouldn't be here. I'm sorry about failing another mission," Dearka says, getting to his feet with Yzak still clinging to him.

"Don't worry about that. Everything is working out, right, Kira?" I ask, smiling at him.

"In one way or another, yes," he says.

"In that case, you owe us for all the missions we've gone through for you!" Dearka says.

"I was three," I point out.

"Yeah, but still! Three that weren't so easy!" he yells.

"You failed two outta three times," I retort. Yzak pulls on Dearka's arm, and this quickly shuts him up, then I walk them out, Kira watching over the railing.

"Do you really think everything is going to be okay with them?" he asks when I reach the top of the stairs.

"Eventually. I can tell that they still have a few things to sort out though." He nods in agreement and wraps his arms around one of mine, nuzzling against my shoulder.

"I know, I know. They interrupted what we were getting at before," I whisper.

"No, you should be working on Birdee . . ." he says, shaking his head.

"That's not what you really want though," I say.

"What we should be doing and what I want us to be doing are never the same."

"So you feel regret then?" I ask.

"No, never. Just that what I want and what is right to most people are never the same thing."

"And this surprises you?"

"No, I expected it."

"People are stupid and close-minded, Kira, and they'll never see past the fact that we're both boys and accept our relationship," I whisper.

He looks up at me, his eyes shimmering with sadness, "I know, and I hate them for that," he mutters.

"I do, too," I say quietly.

"Athrun!" my dad yells from below us. Oh shit.

"Hurry, go in my room and lock the door!" I whisper to Kira. He nods, disappointment evident on his face, and I turn to see my father at the foot of the stairs, staring up at me.

"Hi dad," I say, waving innocently.

"Your coach just called and he wants to know why you weren't at the game today," he says. That La Flaga again! He has a habit of ruining my fun.

"I was up late doing homework last night, so I slept in really late. I'm sorry, I promise I won't miss another one," I say with a fake smile.

"What about that boy? I never saw him leave," he says, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You must not have heard his sister come pick him up. Yeah, it was around eleven when she came by," I say.

"Hmm, I didn't see a car pull in at all last night, besides yours. Where were you?" he asks.

"Out," I reply.

"Don't pull any of those smart-ass remarks with me! Where were you with that boy!" he yells.

"No where! I went to pick something at the mall and I ran into him there!" I say, glancing over my shoulder at the closed door to my room.

"Then why did he come back here?"

"His leg hurt and his parents and sister weren't in the area to pick him up! Why do you need to know every single thing that I do!" I shout.

"Because I don't think you're telling the truth!"

"What's going on?" my mom asks as she comes into my view.

"Mom, he thinks I'm lying to him!" I answer angrily.

"What are you even discussing?" she says calmly.

"Last night!" my dad snaps. Her eyes widen slightly, then she looks from me, to my dad, and back.

"Athrun, I didn't say a word to him about–"

"About what!" my dad interrupts.

"Where I was last night! Y'know what, dad, I was on a date! With Kira! And I don't care what you think or what you try to do because it'll never stop me from seeing him!" I yell. They're both in silent shock for a moment, then my dad regains his rage.

"You can't see him if I don't let you out of the house!"

"I have to go to school, dad! And I have to see my friends! I'm not so antisocial that I don't want to see them!" I retort.

"What if I send you away to school? Then you'd make new friends and you'd be far away from that boy!"

"Stop calling him that! It makes me sick that you won't even acknowledge his existence just because he's a boy and I love him!" I snarl, glaring at my dad viciously.

"Athrun please, calm down . . ." my mom says.

"No! This has to stop now! Our relationship is never going to get anywhere because Kira's afraid you're going to break us up!"

"Good, it shouldn't be getting anywhere!"

"Too bad, is has! You'd kill me if you knew what we've done so far! I don't fucking care if you know or not! You can watch the video that bitch Cagalli took! Mom, you can tell him all about this morning, because I don't give a damn what you think of me! And y'know why that is? Because _I'm moving out_!" I scream.

Before my parents can interject, I turn towards my bedroom door, "you hear that, Kira?" I yell. He timidly peeks out, his eyes wide with fear as he steps into the hallway.

"Hi, Mrs. Zala," he mutters, staring at the carpet.

"You weren't doing homework last night, were you?" my dad asks in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Are you fucking kidding me! Of course not! Kira and I were up til three!" I reply.

"Athrun, don't . . ." Kira whispers, tugging at my sleeve.

"Doing what?"

"I don't think you have the right to know that, _father_," I retort, crossing my arms stubbornly.

"You little bastard . . .Tell me!"

"You won't get anything out of me if you talk to me like that, not that I'm planning on telling you anyway! It's private!" I say.

"Then why does your mother know?" he asks.

"Because she heard it!" I answer. His eyes narrow into dark slits when he realizes what I must be talking about.

"Both of you, out of my house, now!" he yells, his voice echoing off the high ceilings.

"We don't wanna stay here anyway! I'll be moved out by the end of the week!" I snatch Kira's hand and pull him into my room, slamming the door behind me and I begin to tear things off the shelves.

"Athrun . . ." he whispers, falling to his knees beside me.

"What's . . . Kira! Please, don't cry!" I exclaim, wrapping my arm around him.

"B-but Athy, that was so horrible, and I don't want him to find out because then C-cagalli and, and, m-my dad will find out too!" he stammers, curling up in my arms.

"Kira, what if I rent an apartment big enough for both of us?" I ask.

"I can't afford it! Not when my parents have to pay for college! And I'm not letting you pay for me, that's not fair to you! You have to go to school too!" he cries.

"Kira, I can pay for it. If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly short in cash," I whisper.

"That doesn't help the fact that when Cagalli finds out, she's going to tell everyone! What if we get kicked out of school? What then!" he asks, wiping at his teary eyes.

"None of it matters, Kira-chan. If we get kicked out, we'll be together." He looks up at me and I gently press my lips to his, but despite this, I can't ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

TBC . . .


End file.
